


Bleeding Love

by LilCreature



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Blood and Violence, F/F, Fluff and Angst, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm trying, M/M, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Some bullying, Underage Drinking, how do tags work, i should be asleep, some racism, this is my first fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:33:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28400025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilCreature/pseuds/LilCreature
Summary: Luz thought it was going to be another ordinary day. She would go through the motions like always and be invisible to everyone else. She didn't expect the apocalypse to break out. It never occurred to her she might need to fight for her life.Now she has to face this new harsh reality and find a way to survive. But even the apocalypse had few upsides. Luz makes friends along the way she never thought she would have. And maybe just maybe she might even find love.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Boscha/Willow Park, Edric Blight/Jerbo, Emira Blight/Viney
Comments: 26
Kudos: 135





	1. How it started

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everybody!! This is my first fic so please be gentle 😅. Before we get started italics are Luz's inner thoughts and * are texts between Luz and Camila. Thank you for giving this shoot and leave your thoughts in the comments. Without a further ado welcome to Bleeding Love.  
> -Creature

Today couldn't get any worse.

By all standards, it had started as an ordinary day like always. Luz woke up to the sun in her eyes and the house empty. Her mami had been work a lot more this past week due to a recent virus. It didn't bother Luz; she understood that her mom had to work, but that didn't mean she didn't get lonely. 

She stayed in bed a little longer. _I wonder if I have enough time to finish editing my anime clips_ when her phone buzzed. Turning over to grab her phone, she saw that it was a message from her mom. 

***** Hey Mija, I just wanted to check and see if you were awake and not daydreaming again

_Dang it, how did she know._

*Morning Mami, you got me. I swear I'm getting up right now.

Putting her phone down, she starts to change. Throwing her cat hoodie over her head, she finds her leggings under her bed. Knowing her shorts are downstairs, she grabs her phone and pack bag and starts to head down.

Fishing her shorts out of the dryer, she slips them on when her phone buzzes again.

*I know you, Luz. On another note, I'm probably going to be home late again. There's take out in the fridge. Cuídate mucho. Que te vaya bien. Love you ❤.

Smiling at her phone, she shoots her mom a quick text telling her that it's okay and that she loves her too. Looking through the kitchen, she finds some cereal to eat. The house is quiet. It's always like this in the morning. You can hear the old house creak when the wind blows. It's kind of creepy, especially at night when she's alone. Looking at the clock, she realizes that the bus can get here at any moment now. "Crap!" she yells as she rushes around trying to find her shoes and house keys. 

Right when she finds her keys, the bus pulls up. Before she runs out of the house, she grabs her Azura book from the counter. The bus driver looks annoyed again, having to wait for her. He doesn't spare a second glance at Luz as she trips over the third step. It's kind of a routine at this point.

Heading towards the back of the bus, she sits by herself. She always ends up sitting by herself. Pulling her phone out, she plugs her headphones in and starts her lofi playlist. She puts her head back and relaxes to the music. _Do I have enough time for a nap?_ Of course, as soon as she contemplates taking a quick nap, the bus pulls up to the school.

She waits for everyone to get off before she even gets up. Once everyone is gone, she grabs her bag and gets out of the bus.

Luz isn't new to stares. Everywhere she goes, her classmates are always looking at her. Luz knows what they think about her, what they say about her. She never lets it get to her, though. Luz isn't about to change her entire person for them. 

After all these years, she's learned to get through the day. Let her classmates ignore that she even exists. She'll read her fanfics in the back of the class and pretend that they aren't saying things about her. Simple. 

But of course, fate isn't on her side today. Walking into first period, one of her classmates trips her, and she tumbles to the ground with a bang. The class starts to laugh at her, and the teacher pretends nothing happened. Luz quickly stands up and puts a brave face on. She smiles at her classmates as she heads to her seat. 

. . .

Luz isn't a bad student at all. She likes to think she's pretty smart. But Luz does tend to get distracted and cause a mess. That's how she finds herself in the middle of the chemistry lab covered in goo. Luz doesn't know where everything went wrong. One moment she's mixing ingredients, and bam! She has goo all over her lab coat. 

Her teacher doesn't even look mad, just tried. Mrs.Graves is by now used to the fact that Luz makes a mess almost daily. Much to her classmate's dislikes. "Ms. Noceda, please go to the bathroom and clean yourself up. Then go look for a janitor so they can clean this mess up." Mrs.Graves says in an annoyed voice. Without looking at her teacher, Luz says, "Yes, Ma'am."

Even if she might have extra homework tonight, Luz is glad that she left class. She takes her time washing off the goo from her arms. Then she sits in a stall for ten minutes reading before going to look for a janitor. 

Before she gets to the lunchroom, she hears hushed voices come from an empty room. "Did you hear about the riot in Atlanta?"

"Wasn't that one at the Military base?"

"No, that one was in Tennessee."

"In Atlanta, they won't admit any more people in the hospitals."

"I heard that they're just sending people to die at home."

"People are starting to panic..."

Luz walks closer to the room and peeks inside. Inside, there are some teachers close together watching a phone. From where she stands, Luz can make out some fires and people running around. Out of nowhere, they hear an animalistic shriek, and whoever was recording drops the camera. A chill goes down Luz's spine when she hears the shriek. She's not entirely sure what made that noise, but she doesn't want to find out.

She keeps walking, but now all she can think about is what the teachers were saying. Why were there riots? Why were the hospitals denying people? Is the virus that serious? Luz knew it was awful since her mami had been spending a lot more time at work. But she could've never imagined that it had reached this level. 

Instead of getting lost in her head, Luz decided to focus on finding the janitor. 

Mr.Reese doesn't even seem surprised to see her. She's came here to find him so many times it's ridiculous. "Hello, Miss.Noceda, what did you blow up this time." 

"Heya, Mr.Reese! Well, the chemistry room needs a cleanup." Luz replies.

He gives a loud laugh and says, "Never a dull moment with you is there."

Luz gives him a grin. Mr.Reese is one of the few people who actually like her. People usually don't give him a second glance, but he's a pretty fun guy.

"Come on then, let's not keep Mrs.Graves waiting now. She can be a real pain in my ass." The last part, he mumbles just in case anybody else can hear him. 

Luz laughs, "I mean, you're not wrong she can be a grinch." 

Together they walk towards the chemistry room while she tells him about a new anime she's watching. All while she tries to ignore the nagging feeling in the back of her head. 

. . .

The day slowly got worse as the hours went by. At lunch, she got so invested in her Azura book that she knocked Clarie's lunch tray out of her hands. Even if Luz profusely tried to apologize, Clarie wasn't having any of it. She grabbed Luz's book and threw it into the trash can. Luz ran over to retrieve her book, but thankfully Mr.Reese fished it out for her. 

Afterward, she took her lunch and ate in the library. She didn't mind, she had a free period after lunch, so it didn't matter. It seemed like she always ended up here. Every time someone did something to her, she liked to spend some time in the quiet. The librarian got onto her for being too loud more often than not. 

Luz couldn't have been in the library longer than an hour when she heard a commotion outside. Looking around, she got up and went out to the courtyard. There was a group of students looking at a man standing in the middle of the street. The man's clothes were ripped, and if Luz didn't know better, she'd say that was blood on his shirt. She could hear her classmates whispering around her, but Luz couldn't take her eyes off the man.

_Is he okay?_

He just stood there with his head down. He didn't even a muscle as a car passed him. Before Luz even thought about it, she yelled, "Sir, do you need help!" 

Her classmates looked at her like she was crazy. But the man slowly lifted their head, and what Luz saw knocked the air out of her. The man was missing a chunk of his cheek. There was just a hole and blood running down his face. His pupils looked blown, and they were taking a black tint around them. 

Around her, she could feel everyone tense up, and some of her classmates screamed. Luz just kept staring at him, wondering what in the world is she seeing. Then the man started to limp towards them. Everyone took a step back, but he kept moving. He started to speed walk towards them when they heard, "Stop right there!" 

Luz turned around with everyone else to find the campus officer behind them. She saw the officer pull out their gun and point it at the man. "I said stop right there!" 

The man didn't listen, he just growled at him. _Wait, did he actually growl?!?_

If things couldn't get worse, the man then charged at them. Before any of them understood what happened, the officer shot at him. The bullet went through his shoulder, but even with blood gushing out his shoulder, he kept moving. He was about to reach them when the officer shot again, and the bullet went through his head. His body went rigid, and he dropped to the ground dead.

Luz couldn't move. She watched as a pool of blood formed around the man. How the pool got bigger by the second, and how there was a dead man right in front of her. People were yelling around her, and she vaguely heard the officer yelling something. Someone was pushing her inside, but all she could think about was that man. 

She hit the floor before she could process what happened. Looking up, Luz saw a lot of her classmates frantically talking. 

"Did you see his face?!?!"

"Oh my god, we just saw a man die!"

"What the hell just happened!?"

She could hear that some of them were crying, and she really couldn't blame them. 

Luz only remembers Mr.Hall announcing that classes were canceled and for everyone to go home. Luz didn't like the idea of riding the bus right now, so she decided to walk home. Walking to the library, she grabbed her things and headed home.

All she could think about was that man. The way his eyes were blown, and how they looked black. _How the heck did he take a shoot and not fall? It doesn't make sense._

Then she remembered what the teachers were talking about. _Could this be what they were talking about? Did he have the virus? Is this what's happening in the other states?_

Before she could keep thinking about it she felt her phone buzz. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw that her mami texted her. Hopefully, today couldn't get any worse. But the text only said one thing.

Run.


	2. Run?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz has no idea what is going on, but she knows she needs to find her mom. Without much thought she runs head first into danger, and soon realizes what a mistake that was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad you guys liked this! I should probably doing my chemistry homework, but here we are. So welcome to chapter 2 of Bleeding Love.  
> P.S, Italics are Luz's inner thoughts and * are Luz and Camila's texts.

One small word turned Luz's entire world upside.

_ Run? What does she mean by run?  _ Quickly Luz starts typing on her phone.

*What do you mean, Mami? Run where? 

After everything that happened at school, Luz didn't need another surprise. She stood there, praying that her mom answered. It didn't take more than a minute for her mom to reply.

*Mija, listen to me. Go home, get anything you need, and leave the city now.

Now Luz is even more confused and slightly terrified. 

*Mami, what is happening?

Luz starts walking again, a little faster this time. Her thoughts are everywhere. She has no idea what happened at school, and now her mom is freaking her out. She's about to reach her house when her phone buzzes again. 

*Luz, something went wrong. I don't know what happened, but they lied to us. Everything is going off the rails. Please go home, pack your bag, and run. Get out of here before it's too late.

Luz reads the message twice before she ultimately calls her mom. It rings twice before her mom answers. "Mami, what in the world is happening!?" 

"Mija, please just do what I tell you."

Luz can hear rustling in the background. It sounds like people are running around in the hospital.

"Mama, what do you mean they lied to us, and why do I need to leave?"

"Luz escúchame. This virus is something else. I don't know where it originated from. All I know for sure is that this virus is deadly. Please back your bags and leave."

"What about you, mami? I'm not just going leave you here if what you say is true."

"Don't worry about me. I'll find you whenever I can leave."

Before Luz could protest, she heard several screams coming from her mom's side of the line. 

"Mierda! Mija por favor go now. Te amo bebé."

That's the last thing she heard before the line went silent. Luz was rooted to the spot. She couldn't move. The phone still in hand, she slowly walks inside her house and closes the door. 

As soon as the door shuts, Luz crumbles to the floor. Her thoughts are racing, and she doesn't know what to do. Today alone, Luz watched a man get shot and die. Now her mother just told her that she needed to leave the city and proceed to hang up after people started screaming. What was she supposed to think?  _ Is my mom okay? Why were people screaming? What am I going to do?  _

Pulling out her phone, she went on Instagram. She looked for anything that could explain what's going on. Everything looks normal, but a couple of minutes after she one particular post. There wasn't much in the post only a picture of a burning building as the sun set. The caption said,' They're lying to us.' 

It's the same thing her mom said. The photo reminded her of what the teachers were saying. If they're riots happening in the country, then maybe what her mom is saying is true. If it is true, then Luz isn't about to leave her here. Finding the determination she needed, she made a plan right there and then. She would pack her bags and head towards the hospital. Get her mom and leave the city. Before whatever is happening, get them.

. . .

Luz ran around her house and grabbed whatever she thought would be helpful. She grabbed water bottles, granola bars, some fruit(that hopefully won't go bad.) Racing to the bathroom, she opened the cabinet and pulled out a first aid kit. She kept looking, trying to see if there was something else she might need.  _ I might as well take a toothbrush; I don't want my breath to stink. _

Going to her room, she grabs three more shirts and two pairs of leggings.  _ I knew I should've washed my other shorts too. _

With everything in, hand Luz runs back downstairs, and she heads back to the kitchen. Luz puts her clothes and the first aid kit inside her pack bag, and everything else inside of it. Seeing her messenger bag; on the counter, I thought pops inside her head.  _ I can't leave it here. It's the only thing I have from Papi. _

She grabbed it and put her Azura book inside of it.

Opening a kitchen drawer, she found the pocket knife she somehow convinced her mom to buy her.  _ You can never be too safe.  _ Checking that her keys are in her pocket, Luz grabs her bags and heads to the door. Right, when she's about to walk out, she turns her head and looks and the small table they keep beside the door. Staring right back at her is a picture of her mom and her. Their hugging and laughing and the memory of that day is one of her favorite.

Without thinking, she grabs it and puts it inside her messenger bag.

Closing the door, she turns towards the road and starts to run to the city. 

Luz doesn't have the most amazing or detailed plan, but she knows that she's going to find her mom.

She isn't even running for 5 minutes when she hears a big explosion coming from the city. Looking up, Luz sees smoking coming from a building. She feels her stomach drop.  _ That's close to the hospital.  _ Before she even knows she's running full speed to the hospital. She barely notices all the people she passes. The one thing she sees is that all of them are looking towards the city. 

Luz keeps running. She knows that she's running towards the danger, but she's never been someone cautious. 

She comes to a stop when she's near the city. People are rushing out. Some of them in their cars and others are running out. Looking closely, she notices that some people have blood on them. Some are holding their arms or limping. Others look pale and like their having trouble walking. Taking a deep breath, she starts to run again. Pushing her way in the city and avoiding cars that come close to hitting her. 

The thing that worries Luz the most is that they're some people sprawled out on the ground. They just lay there motionless.  _ Are they passed out? Are they dead?! _ She shakes those thoughts from her head. She doesn't have time for this.  _ Just keep running. Find mami and get out of here.  _

As she turns the corner about a block from the hospital, Luz stops dead on her tracks. Right in front of her is a woman kneeling over a little kid. But she isn't just kneeling in front of the kid, she has her hands inside of their stomach. Slowly, digging through the stomach. Almost in slow motion, Luz watches as she lifts her hands, full of the kid's intestines, to her mouth. The woman chews on it like it's nothing.

Luz doesn't know what to do. Her eyes drift to the little kid's face, and she sees that it's frozen in pure terror.  _ I can't be seeing this, can I? There's no way that that lady is eating that kid.  _

Before she knows what she is doing, Luz yells, "Leave him alone!!" 

The woman lifts her head, and Luz feels her heart drop. Her eyes look exactly the same as the man's one at school. They're blown and taking the same black tint as his.

The woman stops chewing and starts to stand up. In a flash, she charges at Luz. For a second, Luz doesn't move; she only stands there. Right, when the woman is about to reach her, Luz comes back to her senses and starts to run.  _ Why is she chasing me!? It doesn't matter, lose her and find Mami. _

Luz keeps running, turning around a couple of times to see that the lady is still following her. She doesn't understand why the lady keeps chasing her.  _ Does she want to eat me too?!  _ Luz keeps running when she hears an animalistic shriek. It sends a shiver down her spine. It's the same shriek she heard when the teachers were talking. Before she can even process what that meant, she turned around and saw that a man had joined the lady. Both of them growling at Luz, trying to get her.  _ Where did he even come from?!?  _

BOOM! The ground shook, and Luz fell to the ground. Lifting her head, and she saw another building catch on fire. The building was falling, and she covered her head, trying to protect herself. The earth shook as the building hit the floor. Trying to see through the dust she saw pieces of the building all over her. Luz didn't have time to gather her bearings when another shriek caught her attention. 

The man and lady had caught up to her. They were seconds away from being on her. All Luz could do was pray they didn't hurt her.

The pain never came. She laid there waiting, but they never got to her. Sitting up, Luz saw a man looming her two bodies in front of her. The man turned around and saw that it was Mr.Reese.

"Mr.Reese!!" Jumping up, Luz ran over to him and hugged him.

Chuckling, the man patted her back and pulled away. "Nice to see you're okay Miss.Noceda." 

Peering over him, Luz noticed that the man and woman after her were on the ground. Each of them sported a bashed head. That's when she saw that Mr.Reese had a rad bat in his hand. "Mr-Mr.Reese, did you kill them?" Luz whispered.

Giving her a sad smile, he said, "It was either them or you. I choose you." 

"Maybe we could've helped them."

"There's no helping them Miss.Noceda. They're gone."

_ Gone? What does he mean by gone?  _

Luz didn't have time to ask him when they heard another shriek. Without a word, Mr.Reese grabbed her arm and started to pull her away. 

"Wait, Mr.Reese! I have to go to the hospital; my mom is still there."

"We have no business going there. Everything is going to hell over there."

"That's even more reason to go there and find my mom."

He turned around and looked at Luz, but before he could say anything, Luz gave him her best puppy eyes and said, "Please."

Mr.Reese lasted about 10 seconds before he sighed and said, "Alright, let's hurry up and go get her." 

Smiling at him, Luz turned towards the direction of the hospital and ran.

. . .

It took them about 10 minutes to get to the hospital. The whole time Luz tried to ignore everything that was happening around her. The burning buildings, the people laying on the ground, the shrieks, and she tried to forget what she saw. The face of the little kid. The way that lady was eating another human being without another thought.

They got to the hospital, and it was chaos. People were running around trying to get out. The cops were there shooting at people coming out of the hospital. Searching around, Luz saw Mrs.Reyes sitting on the curb. A fellow college of her mami. Running towards her, she squatted down to face her.

"Mrs.Reyes what's happening! Have you seen my mom!"

Mrs.Reyes looked at her, and she looked dazed. "The dead are rising, child. It's the end."

Luz was even more confused and terrified now. "What do you mean Mrs.Reyes. The dead?"

She shook her head and buried her head in her hands. Luz is about to ask her about her mom again when she feels a hand on her shoulder. Mr.Reese is looking at her with a grim smile. "Leave her be Miss.Noceda. She isn't well."

Looking back at Mrs.Reyes, Luz stands up and backs away from her. She watches as Mrs.Reyes silently cries in her hands. Luz doesn't want to leave her here but looking around her, she knows she doesn't have time for this. Taking a deep breath, she gives Mrs.Reyes one last sad smile and runs towards a cop. 

The cop is talking to his radio, trying to get more reinforcements. Luz almost runs into him when she comes to stop beside him. He looks at her annoyed, but before he can say anything, she asks, "Sir, what is going on!!" He looks back to the hospital and back to her and Mr.Reese. Another explosion can be heard when he starts to talk. "The city is going up in flames, kid. We were evacuating the hospital and were only able to get some nurses and doctors before some patients went crazy."

More crashes can be heard around them, and Luz is desperate to get answers.

"What do you mean crazy, sir?"

The cop nervously glanced to the hospital. "They started to attack us. They attacked other patients. They turned bloodthirsty and...they tried to eat us." 

_ Eat them? Just like the lady back there... _

Luz started to realize the severity of her reality is setting in. This isn't something small. Whatever is happening can end her whole world. And she is entirely powerless to it. Luz is slipping. She can feel it. She is slowly getting lost in her head when she hears Mr.Reese. "You said that you evacuated some nurses. Was one of them named Camila Noceda?" 

Luz looks at the cop with hopeful eyes, praying that her mami made it out. The officer gives them a tried look before replying, "I don't know. Everything happened so fast that I wasn't able to get any names."

Luz can feel herself deflate. There's a chance that her mami didn't make it out. She looks at the hospital and has half her mind in running inside. Just to make sure that her mom isn't in there.

Mr.Reese grabs her arm and turns Luz so she can face her. "Miss.Noceda, don't go in there." 

_ How did he even know? _

Seeing her surprised face, he chuckles and says, "I've spent two years with you. I know that look anywhere. You're about to do something without thinking."

_ Am I really that easy to read? _

He gets serious all of a sudden. "I know Camila and she isn't an easy woman to take down. I know for a fact that she made it out in time."

Luz looks at Mr.Reese and she knows that he's right. Her mami is resourceful and very stubborn. She isn't going to leave Luz alone. 

_ Mami said that she was gonna find us. Don't worry.  _

_ What if she doesn't? _

"AHHHHHHHH!" 

All three of them turn towards the hospital. Two people are on top of an officer and they are ripping him apart. All the officer can do is scream. It's the same scene from earlier. Their ripping through him and stuffing their mouths with his guts. 

The cop beside her runs up the them and pulls his gun out. Right, when he's about to shoot, a large man comes out of nowhere and bites his arm. The man tackles the cop and starts to claw at him. 

Luz can feel herself shaking, but she can't take her eyes off them. She watches as they tear through the officers. How the blood flows out of them. How the officers are screaming in agony and she can't do anything. 

"Miss.Noceda, we have to leave now!" 

Luz turns to stare at Mr.Reese. She knows that they need to leave but it doesn't feel right to leave them here like this. "W-We can't leave them here. We have to help them."

"We can't help them."

"But-"

"You can't find your mom if you die, Miss.Noceda."

Luz shuts her mouth. He's right if she dies now she won't be able to see her mom. Nodding her head she turns her back to the hospital and runs. 

Everything got so much worse since they run past. More buildings were on fire. People were running around trying to get out. Pushing and shoving each other trying not to die. Worst of all there are bodies scattered around everywhere. If Luz paid enough attention she noticed that some of them were torn apart.

_ Is this what is happening around the country? Is my mami okay? Am I gonna make it?  _

Mr.Reese stops running so suddenly that she almost runs into him. "Mr.Reese, why did you-"

She stops mid-sentence when she sees what is in front of them. About 15 of them gorging themselves with the bodies scattered around. The way they look so content eating. It's horrifying. 

Luz is about to tell Mr.Reese that they should leave when one of them sees them. Their eyes lock with Luz's and it lets out an ear-piercing shriek. All of the others turn their heads and face the two of them. They charge at her and Mr.Reese. That's the moment where Luz thinks that's how she's gonna die. That's before Mr.Reese kicks into gear and drags her away. If it weren't for him she would've died right there. 

They're right behind them. No matter how many turns they take, they can't shake them off. It seems like every time they almost do they come back even more blood-thirsty.  _ Oh my god! Oh my god! What is happening?!?! Please just leave us alone.  _

Like always the universe decides to mess with Luz in the worst possible way. Her feet get caught on something and she falls flat on her face. Pain erupts on the left side of her face. Luz can't pay attention to that right now. Not when she can hear those people getting closer. Then the same thing that always happens, happens. Someone else cleans up her messes. 

Mr.Reese charges towards her and bashes his bat at the first man that reaches her. The man falls back and Mr.Reese helps her stand. But the relief is short-lived. More of them caught up and they were rabid. They all try to reach them, and Mr.Reese swings at them trying to fend them off. But no matter how many hits he lands they won't go down. 

Luz sees how one of them manages to dodge Mr.Reese's bat. She can't do anything as she watches her bite his arms, and tear a piece out of his arm. He lets out a yell and bashes her head. Luz is running to him to help him when three of the people jump on him. Right, when they start to severe into him, Mr.Reese looks straight into Luz's eyes. He throws his bat at her and yells, "RUN!"

She catches the bat and stares with horror as they eat one of the only friends she's ever had. Luz knows there's nothing she can do, so with tears in her eyes, she turns around and runs away from the city. 

. . .

Luz doesn't know how she ended up in an abandoned cabin outside of the city. She barely remembers running as her city burns to the ground. She runs till she can't see the city anymore. Luz is in a trance as she steps inside the cabin. It's falling apart and it smells like a sewer., but Luz can't find herself to care.

As soon as she closes the door she falls to the floor. The events of today coming rushing to her. The man at school. The woman eating that poor little kid. Mrs.Reye's dazed eyes. The hospital on fire. The officers. And Mr.Reese. Mr.Reese died saving her because even at the most inconvenient moments she's still a klutz. Luz didn't find her mom, and she managed to get her friend killed. Luz starts to cry before she even knows, and once she starts she can't stop. 

Sobs wracked her body as she replays everything. 

_ I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't help you.  _

Luz cries till she can't anymore. But even she can't cry she doesn't stop thinking about everything. Her mom is still out there and people are eating each other. This a dread in her that won't leave her alone. 

She rolls to her side and falls into a restless slumber.

. . .

Luz wakes up with her whole body aching and the front door bursting open. 

"Damn deadies wouldn't give up! Made me lose me my stash."

Scrambling to a sitting position, Luz is greeted by the sight of a tall woman in front of her. She has long grey hair and eyes that look almost golden, mischief written all over her. Of course, the first that leaves Luz's mouth is, "Please don't eat me!" 

The woman looks at her like she just noticed that Luz was here. She sounds confused as she says, "Eat you? Why would I do that? Granted, I know I eat some pretty weird stuff, but kids ain't one."

Luz looks at her in relief and noticed her outfit for the first time. The lady is in a red dress with boots. I long wooden staff in one hand and a gun in the other. Slung over her shoulder is a rifle. She looks like she can take on anybody that crosses her.

"Thank god! I thought you were one of those crazy people."

"Oh, you mean the deadies. Yeah, I ain't one of them, kid." The lady says in an amused voice. 

They just stare at one another before the strange lady says, "So do you have a name or what?"

Standing up, Luz holds her hand and says, "I'm Luz. Luz Noceda."

With a smirk on her face, the lady takes her hand. "Well, Luz, I'm Eda the Owl lady."

_ Strange but cool. _

Luz jumps as an explosion goes off way too near for her liking. Eda stares at her for a second before stating, "Kid, you look like shit."

_ Gee, thanks. _

"So with that said let's go."

_ Wait, what? _

"Go where?"

"Unless you're waiting for the deadies to get you then, stay. If not let's go."

_ She has a point. _

Making sure she has everything, Luz follows Eda out of the house. Outside there's a Honda truck waiting for them. Eda gets into the driver's seat, and Luz has to yank the passenger door open.

Looking for a seat belt, she comes empty-handed. "Uhm, is this safe, Ms.Eda?"

Eda looks at Luz with a mischievous grin, "Nope!"

The pull out at full speed, and Luz holds on for dear life.

_ This is fine. _


	3. The Owl Lady

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday to The Owl House!! Wow it's really been a whole year since it came out. I just want to say is that I adore this show with my entire heart. I'm sorry this took a bit to come out school decided to drag me again. So let's get on with the show. Hope you guys enjoy. P.S. Italics are Luz's inner thoughts

_Can she even drive!?!_  
Luz found herself asking the same question for over an hour now. Eda has no sense of self-control at the very moment. She's been driving at 80 miles per hour, and she hasn't slowed down once. Luz can't blame her, though. As soon as they left the cabin, more explosions went off. She has no idea where they are coming from, but she's grateful that they got away so fast. Even if she almost threw up twice.

"So, uhm, where are we going, Ms.Eda?"  
The owl lady turns to look at Luz and smirks at her. "You'll see when we get there."

Not the answer Luz was looking for. _There's a chance she could be a serial killer and wants to kill me. Or she could be a nice lady who just saved my butt. Either way, I'm still alive._ Luz finds that Eda hasn't stopped watching her. "Shouldn't you be looking at the road?"  
The lady laughs at her, "I'm an excellent drive. I don't need to look." 

Granted, they haven't crashed yet, but it still makes Luz nervous.

Luz turns around to look around the truck. The past hour has been nerve-wracking, so she hasn't paid attention to it. There are two guns between them. A rifle that looks beaten down and rough around the edges. I wonder if it still works? The pistol seems newer. If you were to polish the gun, it would look like you just got it. The thing that really calls her attention is the wooden staff. It's pretty long. Not as tall as Eda but a bit taller than Luz. It has an owl carved out at the top of it.   
Now that Luz looks closer, both guns have an owl carved in them. 

"Why do you have an owl carved in your things?" Eda has finally looked back at the road but still laughs at her. "Kid, they call me the owl lady. Of course, I'm going own up to it."   
_Guess she takes the owl lady seriously._  
Reaching out, she touches the carved owl. It's a beautiful piece of art. The details are fine, and it looks so real. "Where did you get this?"  
The owl lady scoffs and says, "Get it? Kid, I made my staff."  
"Made it?!? Eda, it's amazing." Luz says in shock.  
Smirk makes a way to Eda's face when she replies, "I know."   
. . .  
They've been driving for a good two hours now, and Luz is getting antsy. She's always been like this. Luz can never stay still for a long time. Her mom would have to stop when they were on a road trip so Luz could get some energy out. Luz can't ask Eda to stop right now. They're in the middle of nowhere, and she's scared to run into those people again. So she sits there fidgeting and does the one thing she shouldn't do. Get lost in her thoughts.

Luz starts to recall everything that happened the night before. The fire, the explosions, people eating other human beings. She couldn't find her mami. For all Luz knows, she could be one of them or gotten eaten by one of them. _Don't think like that. Mami is fine. You're going to find her._

Her head starts to throb. Luz brings her hand to her head and flinches when it makes contact. Looking at her hand, Luz notices that there's dry blood on it. Turning towards the side view mirror, she sees that she has a gash on her eyebrow. It starts about an inch above her left eyebrow and ends about an inch under it. It's pretty deep, but Luz doesn't think she needs stitches. She was so upset last night that she didn't even feel it. But now she feels it, and it isn't helping her headache.

_How did I even get this? The only time I hit my head was when Mr.Reese helped me...oh._   
Of course, she got it when she tripped. Her head the ground before Mr.Reese came to her aid. Luz might not need stitches, but it's going to leave a scar. She's on autopilot as she pulls out the first aid kit from her back bag. Her mami taught her how to do this when Luz was little since Luz always found a way to bang herself up. She cleans the gash first and puts adhesive strips. Inspecting it closer to see if it seems okay, she hears, "That's gonna leave a nice scar, kid."

Luz turns around and focuses on the owl lady. "Do you think so?"

"Of course, kid. You can tell everyone that you got it during your great escape."   
Luz grins, but it slowly fades away. _A scar is cool, but I got it because of my clumsiness, and I lost one of the only people who tolerated me._   
Luz quickly changes subjects before she starts to spiral."Wait, how do you know I was running?" 

Eda snorts, "Luz, you were sleeping in an abandoned cabin by yourself while all hell is breaking loose. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out."   
_She's not wrong. I look like a mess._   
Before she loses her nerve, she askes the question that's been plaguing her mind. "Eda, do you know what exactly is going on?"   
Eda stays silent for a minute, not entirely sure what she's going to say. "There isn't much to explain, Luz. The dead are rising. Half-dead, half-living with the sole purpose to eat."

"But how is it happening!?"

"Kid, you're asking the wrong person. I found out while I was strolling around a random town. I went inside a bar and came out to find people eating each other." 

At this point, Luz is getting desperate for answers. "Why are they eating each other? Are they sick? Can we help them?"

"Luz, there's nothing we can do for them. They're gone. The person they were before isn't there anymore." 

Slumping into her seat, Luz huffs, " So there's nothing we can do?" 

"The only thing we can do is take them out of their misery." 

Luz pales, "Do you mean that we have to kill them?" 

Frowning, Eda says, "I know that sounds bad Luz, but nobody in their right mind wants to live like that."

That doesn't make it any better for Luz. They might still be people, and she could be the one to end their lives. Sensing Luz's dread, Eda quickly says, "Think about like you're doing them a favor. They would want someone to help them, and if that's us, then so be it." 

Eda might be right. We could be helping, even though they die. But is it worth it?  
Luz doesn't want to keep thinking about this. That isn't a rabbit hole she wants to go down in. Looking back at the weapons, she contemplates them.  
Tilting her head sideways, Luz asks, "Eda, how did you already have your weapons ready without knowing this was going to happen?" 

The owl lady laughs, "I don't go anywhere without my babies. The one time I did, I ended up in Vegas and got married."   
_She can't be serious._

Eda is looking at her like she's daring to question her.   
_Okay, then she is serious._

"Okay, so you've had these guns for years now. How did you get them?"

The mischievous glint in Eda's eyes gets brighter. "Well, my dear child, it's called petty theft. This guy left it wide open, and he pissed me off. So I just went up, took his guns, and ran." 

_So I am inside a truck with a criminal. That is so awesome!!!_

"How did he not catch you?"

In a voice full of confidence, Eda replies, " I'm the owl lady Luz. Nobody has been able to catch me for years, and nobody ever is."   
Luz looks at her in awe. Even though the apocalypse probably just started, Eda doesn't look phased. Luz wishes she was her right now. Maybe that would stop her thoughts from spiraling. 

Before Luz knows it, she feels the truck slowing down. Turning her gaze towards the road, Luz notices there is a small gas station up ahead. She really doesn't want to leave the safety of the truck, but her legs could use some stretching. Hopefully, they won't run into those people. _I need to come up with something to call them. I can't keep calling them those people. Wait, what was that name Eda called them. Deadies? Well, until I can come up with a better name deadies, it is._

Eda stops in front of a gas tank and turns towards Luz. "We're running out of gas, and I'm hungry. So help me fill up the gas tank, and then we'll get some snacks."   
That sounds like a good plan, but there's one flaw in that plan. "Uhm, Eda, you have to pay to get any gas." 

Causally pulling at a credit card from her pocket, Eda grins at her. "By the looks of it, the electricity still works here, so we can pay with this." 

_That covers that part of the plan, even if the name on the card says, Kyle Smith._

Opening the car door, Eda gets out as she states, "Bring your bat, kid." Luz looks down at her feet and remembers Mr.Reese's bat. It still had the blood from the deadies last night. The only reason Luz has the bat now is because Mr.Reese died. She doesn't feel like she should have it. It belongs to him. He told her once that he wanted to play baseball when he was younger. Even if life had other plans, he still played on the weekends. He even taught her how to use a bat properly one afternoon she had detention.

"Hurry up, Luz!"  
Jumping, Luz quickly grabs the bat and runs out of the truck. Eda is scanning the card and starts filling the gas tank up. "Grab me the gas can from the trunk." Luz opens the trunk and looks for the can. The trunk is full of random things, and it kind of reminds her of her closet. Pulling the gas can from under a pile of clothes, she walks up to Eda. She takes the can from Luz and fills it up. Once that's done, she closes it and looks around. "Okay, kid, this place looks pretty quiet, so hopefully the deadies haven't reached here yet. But just in case try to be quiet loud noises attract them."

Tightening her grip on the bat, she nods. Together they walk up to the gas station and walk-in. The lights are still on, but nobody is inside. Taking a good look around the store, Eda seems satisfied and starts to grab random things. Well, if it is the apocalypse might as well enjoy it. Luz throws all types of food into her bag. She finds a pair of cool-looking sunglasses and throws them onto her face. On the other side of the gas station, Eda is looking through the alcohol section. "Damn, they don't have any of the good booze." Laughing, Luz goes back and goes through the couple of books the station has. They keep browsing through the store for a while before Eda walks up to her. "I think we have everything we need. I even picked the lock to the employee's room and found some good whiskey. It isn't apple blood, but it will do." 

"You are the only person I know that prefers apple blood. They usually say that it's nasty." Eda shrugs, "Apple blood is better in every way. If that makes me weird, so be it."

Luz smiles. It's a bit refreshing for someone else to admit they're weird too. It makes her feel like she isn't the only weirdo. "Anyways, let's get going. I don't want to be out here in the dark if I can help it." Before Luz can reply to her, a person comes out of nowhere and slams Eda into the ground. Screaming, Luz looks up and finds a man that's almost 7 feet tall looming over Eda. "Ugh, I hate when that happens," Eda groans out. 

"That happened before!!!" Luz yells. 

"Eda, the owl lady I have finally found you," the man finally says. Turning around Eda stands up and backs up to where Luz is. "Hey, Warden! How are you doing? Well, nice to see you, but we're going to get going." Eda grabs Luz's arm and starts to drag her towards the door. The warden moves in front of them, blocking the way. He starts to reach behind him as he growls, "The only way you are going to get out is if," he gets down on one knee with a bouquet, "you go out on a date with me." 

Luz grimaces, "I hate everything that you are saying right now." 

"Stay out of this pipsqueak!!" he yells. He pulls a gun out and points at Luz. She stands still as Eda looks over at her. With a heavy sigh, she says, "Alright, Warden come closer." He stands up with a maniacal grin over his scarred up face. If anything, that makes him even more horrifying. 

He comes up to Eda's face, and for a horrible second, Luz thinks she might kiss him. Instead, she spits in his face and knees him in the groin. The warden drops to his knees, and the gun falls out of his hand. "I am not going to go out with you, dipshit. You slammed me into the ground and pulled a gun on the kid. Not to mention last time we saw each other, you shot me." The Warden is still on his knees groaning; when Eda grabs Luz's arm and runs to the door. Two other men come out of nowhere and block the doors. Eda lets go of Luz, and with her staff, she swings at one of them. It hits him in the head, and she proceeds to front kick him in the chest. He falls backward and slams into some shelves. The second man is about to charge at Eda when Luz lifts her bat and slams it against his back. Staggering forward, he turns towards me and snarls. 

Before he can do anything, she brings the bat down to his head, and he falls to the ground. "Nice one, kid!" Eda throws Luz a smirk from where she stands. They don't have time to celebrate before the Warden stands up and roars. _Did he just roar?!_

"That's our cue to go!" Both of them run out of the store before he can charge at them. Right as they are about to reach the truck, he grabs Luz by her hoodie and lifts her. "Let go of me!" 

"Can it, kid! Eda, come with me, or the pest gets it."

"Hey, that's not cool!" Luz shrieks. Eda stops in her tracks and glares at him. "Alright, alright, let me just-" In a quick move, Eda reaches behind her and throws something at the Warden. The moment it collides with his face, it explodes. Smoke fills Luz's vision, and then she hits the ground. With her eyes watering, she sees how Eda runs up to the Warden and dropkicks him. He hits the floor with a thump. He doesn't even get the chance to react before Eda slams her foot to his face. "Luz, time to go!" Even though Luz can't exactly see yet, she gets up and gets into the car. 

Luz practically throws herself into the truck, and Eda takes off. Turning in her seat Luz sees as the Warden rolls to his side and watches as they speed off. "Eda, who were they? They almost killed us!" 

The owl lady snickers, "Those idiots couldn't kill us even if they tried."

"Didn't you say that the Warden guy shot you?"

"Yeah, he did, but he missed by a mile, so don't worry about it. As for who they are, those guys are just some nitwits that think they can catch me."   
_So is she getting chased by a bunch of bounty hunters? Terrifying but awesome!_

"Since we almost died, can you tell me where we're going now?"

Eda barks out a laugh, "Nice try, Luz! But you need to wait."   
Sitting back, Luz pouts but can't help but think how cool the owl lady is.   
. . .  
They drove for about two more hours. Throughout the whole drive, Luz learned that Eda is incredible. She knows about ten different types of fighting styles, and she is full of confidence. Not to mention that she is sassy and surprisingly foxy for her age.

Eda turned into the forest, and ten minutes later, they pulled into a big house with a large glass stained window on it. "Whoa!" Even though it might seem ominous to have a house in the middle of nowhere, Luz can't help but find it beautiful.  
Grabbing her bags and the bat, Luz follows Eda to the house. Eda knocks on the door, and a slit opens on the door. Brown eyes can be seen through the slit. "Hoot hoot, password please!" Eda pokes the eyes with her fingers, "We don't got time for this, Hooty. Open up!" The person jumps back and says, "Alright, geez! Hoot!"   
The door flings open, and a tall lean man with an owl mask over his face is standing in front of them. "Get back outside, Hooty. Take out any deadies that might wander here." 

All he says is, "Hoot hoot," as he walks out the house with a staff in hand. 

"Welcome to the owl house!" Eda faces Luz with a big smile on her face. 

_Even her house is owl themed._

Looking around, Luz finds that the house is a mixture of chaos and warmth. Behind the couch on the left wall, there is a huge wanted poster with Eda's face on it. She doesn't even look upset, in fact, she's smirking at the camera. Eda notices that Luz is inspecting the poster. "I look good, don't I?" 

"So, do you live here alone?"

With a bored face, Eda says, "I do have a roommate." Just as she says that you can heat stomping coming towards them. Luz backs up to Eda, and before she can get scared, a little boy comes in with ducky pajamas on. "Who dares disturb King! The king of demons!!" 

"Ay, que lindo!!!" Luz runs up to him and scoops him up. She snuggles against him. "Who's my widdle guy! Who's my widdle guy!"

"I don't know who you're little guy is!" 

Eda comes up behind them and pulls Luz off King. "Who is this, Eda?!" 

"This is Luz, King. I found her on my way back."

"Is she gonna stay here?"

"I don't know just yet."

_Wait, what? I don't have anywhere to go._

"Ms.Eda, could I stay here with you guys?" Eda looks up to her, confused. "Kid, why would you want that? Don't you have any family out there waiting for you?" Luz furrows her eyebrows, "I do, but I don't know where my mom is. Also, the fact that I would probably die if I went out there on my own. I want to learn how to fight like you." 

Eda takes a second to look at her. King is at her feet and tugs her tights. "Let her stay; she can make us snacks." Glancing down at King, Eda smiles, "Alright kid you can stay here with us, but before you can learn from me, you need to do some stuff for me."  
Luz is already pulling both of them into a hug before Eda can finish her sentence. "Hey, what is this!" Eda exclaims.   
. . .  
After a quick meal in the mess that is Eda's kitchen, Luz walks upstairs to her room while she stays here. There are random trinkets scattered around the room. It might not be much, but it's enough for Luz. Quickly she changes into her pajamas and walks up to the window. The owl house is on a cliff that gives it a perfect view of the ocean. The moon is high in the sky, and its light gives the ocean a magical glint to it. Back home, she could barely see the stars, but here there's an abundance of them. Even if the dead might be walking around, Luz can't help but find this moment peaceful. Turning her eyes to the right, she can see a town down below.

Eda told her that it was safe down there. Luz doesn't know whether to believe her not. If the deadies were already in a dozen cities across the country, what says that the town is safe. Turning around, she closes the window and heads to her sleeping bag. Grabbing her phone, she opens her camera and looks at her gash. There's no puss or sign of infection, so that's a relief. It still hurts, but it isn't that bad. 

There still isn't any new messages from her mami. Looking at the picture of her mami and herself brings a new wave of sadness over her. _Mami could be hurt out there, and I wouldn't know. She could be one of the deadies, and she could be doing stuff she doesn't want to do. I would still be here, and I would never know._

A soft knock brings Luz out of her thoughts. Lifting her head she notices King at her doorway with a small bunny plushie in hand. He looks at her sheepishly. "Your sleep cocoon looks fluffy." Luz gives her a small smile, and she pats the space beside her. King runs up to her sleeping bag and lays down beside her. Laying back, Luz looks at King, and she smiles. _Don't worry mami I'll find you. The world might be upside down, but at least I find people to watch my back._

Rolling to her side, she closes her eyes and goes to sleep with hope in her heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all I swear we'll be meeting Willow and Gus next time and maybe Amity too.


	4. Bonesborough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for your comments! They mean a lot to me. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Let's get chapter 4 started  
> P.S. italics are Luz's thoughts

"Morning, Mami!"

Luz walks down to greet her mom and hopefully eat some breakfast before the bus arrives. "Buenos Dias, Mija! I made you some scrambled eggs." 

With a bounce in her step, Luz goes to the counter and grabs her plate. Sitting down, she starts to eat, as her Mami sits down with her coffee and a book. "How was your shift last night, Mama?" Huffing, Camila puts her book down and looks at Luz. "Things aren't great, Luz. A lot more people are coming in sick, and we have no clue what it is."

"Could it be that new virus?"

"It's most likely that, but we're so overwhelmed right now."

Standing up, Luz heads towards the sink, "Don't worry, Mami. I'm sure things will start clearing up soon."

Smiling, she turns around, but her mom isn't sitting at the table anymore. She isn't anywhere in sight. "Mami?"

Luz hears grunting in the living room. _Weird? Why would she go over there?_

Making her way to the living room, Luz finds her mami sitting still on the couch. "Mami, why did you leave me in the kitchen alone?" Reaching out, she grabs her shoulder, but her mom; still doesn't move. A little concerned now, Luz walks around the couch and screams when she sees her mom upfront. Her mom's face is rotting, and she has bite marks all over her face. One of her eyes is hanging out her eye socket by a muscle. There's blood all over her as she stares at Luz lifeless. Camila stumbles as she stands up and makes her way to Luz. "L-Luz...Help-help me..." 

Luz tries to move, but she isn't sure she can. The closer her mom gets, the worse she looks. Her scrubs are ripped, and her glasses cracked. Parts of her skin are peeling off, and she smells like death. She's in front of Luz before she knows it. Luz is used to her mom being warm even though she runs hot; she always finds comfort in her warmth. But as soon as her mom's hands land on her chest, all she feels is cold. All Luz can do is watch as her mom opens her mouth, and in slow motion, she sees how she bares her teeth and bites her.

**_BAM!_ **

Luz wakes up in a cold sweat, frantically touching her neck. She expects to find bite marks but there wasn't any. She sits there taking deep breaths trying to calm her racing heart. Luz almost loses it again when something grazes her leg. Looking down, she sees King curled up in a ball sleeping at her feet. Turning her head, Luz remembers that shes' at the owl house and not dead in a ditch. Slowly standing up, Luz covers King with the blanket, and she heads to the window. Opening it, she looks for the source of the noise that woke her up.

The sun has just started to rise, and the wind blows softly. It's almost peaceful if it weren't for the fact the Hooty stands over three bodies. They look like the people that Luz saw on the first day. Their skin is grey, and their veins have darkened. Blood is smeared all over their faces. Each of them has a hole in their heads, right where Hooty struck them. _Well, that's a great way to wake up._ They remind Luz of her nightmare. How her mami looked just like them and how she might end up like them. Dead under someone's foot. 

"Hoot! Hey, Luz!" Hooty looks up to her and sends her a smile. Luz gives him the best smile she can without grimacing. He starts to drag the bodies and doesn't even phase him. He starts whistling as he does it, and it amazes Luz how he can do that. She feels like crying just by watching. 

Averting her eyes, Luz focuses on the town down below. It's still pretty early in the morning, so most of the town is still asleep. She's curious to know how the town is like, but a deadie could pop up at any moment. _It's way too earlier for this amount of thinking. Let's just go, find some food, and worry about that later._

Grabbing her clothes, Luz starts changing and tries to stop thinking about her nightmare. King rolls over and proceeds to make the cutest yawn she has ever heard. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes he hugs his bunny plushie. _Could he be more adorable!!!_ No one can blame Luz when she picks him up and cuddles him. "Good morning, my Lil cutie pie!" 

King squirms in her arms, "I am not your cutie pie!" Laughing, Luz puts him down and walks out of the room. "Wait, I didn't tell you to stop!"

It didn't take Luz long to find the bathroom, and it honestly wasn't what she expected. Everything Luz has seen so far has Eda written all over them. The bathroom just looks normal. Yes, there are more than a few bra's scattered around and a stain; or two that are concerning. But Luz has seen a lot more bathrooms that can't even be called a bathroom. After checking her wound and cleaning it, Luz heads to the kitchen. The kitchen can only be called lively. It might be in desperate need of a deep cleaning, but that gives it an odd charm. Eda and King are already there, eating what Luz thinks are eggs. Walking past Eda, Luz gets a sniff of her coffee and something much stronger. _Apparently, it's never too earlier for alcohol._

"Hey kid, eggs are the stove." Finding a clean plate(which was more difficult than it should be), Luz serves herself some eggs. The eggs have a unique taste to them, but she keeps eating them. _Mami always did say I have an iron stomach._ Eda mostly eats in silence while King and Luz play around. Hooty barges in halfway through breakfast. He shoves the rest of the eggs into his mouth and runs out of the house again. "How did he not choke?"

Eda snorts, "Lord knows how he does it. He's oddly dedicated to his job."

"Job?" Luz just thought he liked sleeping outside

"Yeah, he makes an incredible security system. Nobody is coming in here with him out there."

_Well, it's easier to sleep with someone keeping watch._

"Also, the fact that he insists on sleeping outside."

_And there it is._

"So Eda, when do we start training?"

Stopping mid-sip, Eda looks at Luz, confused. "Training? What training?"

Luz can't help but feel disappointed that Eda somehow already forgot their talk from last night. "You know, the training that is supposed to help me not die out there. So I can be as cool as you." Eda frowns like she's trying hard to remember what Luz is talking about. Pulling a flask from her skirt, she pours more alcohol into her cup. Taking a sip from the mug, she finally says, "Oh yeah! I did tell you that." _She finally got there._

Grinning, Luz starts talking, "Can we start now? When do I learn how to flip? Do I get a weapon too? Can I use your staff?" She got so into her ramble that Luz didn't notice that she was leaning over the table to get closer to Eda. The owl lady puts her hands on Luz's shoulders, holding her back before she falls on her. "Whoa, kid! Calm down okay, one at a time." Looking sheepish, Luz sits down and mumbles a sorry. Dragging a hand over her face, Eda sighs, "Kid, you're enthusiasm is nice, but at least make let me wake up completely. As for your questions, training doesn't start till after you do some errands for me." 

Luz deflates a little at the mention of errands. _Hey, maybe these errands won't be so bad._ King finds his way to Eda's lap before she can stand up. "Can I go into town with you this time, Eda?" _Wait, we're going into town?_ Eda smiles down at him and ruffers his hair, "Okay, you goofball, but this time put some pants on."

King frowns at her, "Do I have to?" 

"Yes, King."

Huffing, King gets down and walks out, mumbling under his breath. "Has he went out without pants before?" Chuckling, Eda turns to Luz, "You would be surprised how many times he's done that." Fidgeting with her hands, Luz glances at Eda, "Are we going into town then?"

"We have to. I'm running low on food, and I have to meet someone down there." _On one hand, it's a new place to explore. On the other hand, deadies might appear._ "Also, you're going to need some gear before we can start training." _Well, I'm sold._

"You know, going into town sounds fun." Even though Luz is scared of going there, she's excited to see a new place. _Even if a deadie does pop up, I have Eda the owl lady on my side._

_. , ,_

It takes them over an hour to get out of the house. Eda had to chase King around so he would put his shorts on. Then she couldn't find her revolver. Eda nearly strangled Hooty before he finally confessed that he hid it. Luz found the whole thing amusing and a little nerve-wracking. They finally have everything and head out before Eda decides to beat Hooty.

Surprisingly Luz finds herself not once thinking about the deadies. The whole way down there, King tells her how he will command his army of demons against his enemies. It might be a bit concerning that a 5-year-old is talking about destroying people, but he is adorable. Eda looks like she's heard this a million times, but she still pays attention to his entire monologue. Before Luz knows it, they've reached the town.

A sign greets them with the name Bonesborough on it. From where the owl house, Luz couldn't tell, so it's a surprise that there is a fence around the town. It's concrete and about 8 feet tall. "Eda, has the fence always been here?" Eda seems to be inspecting the fence, "The fence was built a couple of years ago, but it was never finished. A few months ago, the mayor paid people to finish it. It covers the entire town. No one is going to break in." _That's reassuring, but it sounds like the townspeople are trapped inside._

Eda stares at the wall a bit more before she walks up to the entrance and pounds on it. A lanky teenager pops his head over the face glances at them. His eyes widened when he notices Eda, "Ms.Owl Lady! I'm sorry; I didn't see you! I'll open the fence right away." He disappears from their sight. Luz turns to Eda, and she grins down at her. The teenager appears in front of them, and he struggles to open the doors. Before he can even completely open it, Eda pushes past him, King right at her heels, and the poor guy almost falls. Luz follows her but makes sure that the guy is fine. "Are you okay?" He looks at her and chuckles nervously, "I'm fine. It wouldn't be the first time the Owl Lady has done that." He stares at her and finally notices Luz. "Oh, I've never seen you before," he scrunches his eyes, "Mind telling me who you are."

Stuffing her hands in her pockets she introduces herself, "I'm Luz. A pleasure to meet you, and you are?" The guy looks at her a bit longer before he nods his head and smiles at her. "Bonjour Luz. I'm Jerbo." Before she can respond to him, Eda yells at her to hurry up. Jumping, Luz looks at Jerbo, "Sorry Jerbo, I gotta go. Nice to meet you!" She turns on her heel and runs to Eda. Once she catches up, Eda starts heading towards what seems like a market. In the last three days, Luz has seen more death than a 16-year-old should, and her whole world has fallen into chaos. But here in the market, it seems like nothing has even happened.

People are going about their business and not giving them a second glance. None of them look scared, some look a bit worried, but most seem fine. _Do they not know what's going on?_ Eda stops in front of a stand that's selling types of knives. She doesn't move from her spot till the man behind the stand notices her. "Ah, Ms.Eda! Glad to see that you're back. What can I do for you?"

"Cut the crap, Grey. Where is my knife?" 

The man keeps looking at her innocently; "I gave that back to you two weeks ago." 

Eda glares at him, and Luz can see how it's starting to get to him. Who could blame the man. Eda is in front of him with her staff in hand and a revolver hanging from her side. She could probably break his back if she wanted to. Slightly leaning over, Eda slowly puts her hand on her gun. Looking right into Grey's eyes, "Want to try again, dear old Grey." 

He visibly swallows before he speaks, "Let me go check real quick." Grey turns around and goes behind a curtain. Luz looks at Eda in awe, and King seems disappointed that nothing happened. Quickly walking back, Grey has a knife in his hand. Luz can tell from her limited(more like none) knowledge of knives, it seems like nine inches long, and it's a hunting knife. The sheath of the knife has an owl on it, and so does the blade. _And the owl theme continues._

"Look at this; I found it mixed with some other knives." Grey awkwardly laughs, and he hands the knife to Eda. She snatches it from him and starts to inspect it. Luz can tell see how Grey holds his breath as Eda keeps looking at her knife. Once she seems satisfied, Eda glances at Luz and King and winks at them. She throws a glare at Grey before pointing the knife at him. "We'll be going now, but Grey next time you try to keep my knife, you'll regret it. Okay, bye!" With that, Eda starts walking away with the two of them right behind her. 

"That was so cool, Eda! He looked like he was about to pee himself."

The owl lady laughs, "Well, that's what he gets for trying to take my knife." _She just gets more incredible by the day._ King sounds giddy as he says, "You should've seen the last time she threatened that guy from the carnival." 

Eda scoffs, "That idiot should know better than to try to cheat on Texas Hold'em while playing with me." _I want to know what happened, but then again, it could be anything._

They walked around the market for another hour. In that hour, Eda almost got into a fight twice, and King ended up stealing from a stand. "King, why do you even need white paint for?" Luz asked. He lifts his head and tells her, "I need to fix my skull." _Alright, so that isn't concerning at all._ Eda didn't even yell at King for stealing. _Mami would have her slipper out so fast if I even tried to pull that._

Luz is having fun but she thought that by now they would've at least bought some gear. Eda comes to a stop and spins around to face Luz. "I gotta go and get something across town. Take this list and go to Tommy's store and put everything on my tab." Picking King up, she starts to head off and leaves Luz in the middle of the market. _So I need to go to Tommy's store. Where in the world is that?_ As always, Luz wings it and starts walking in a random direction. It takes her about 5 minutes to realize that she is completely lost. _Of course, I get lost in a town I've never been to._

She should probably ask for directions, but she isn't entirely comfortable with that. Especially when they all seem so weirdly calm. _It's nice to be in a peaceful environment, but how do they not know what is going on. Let's just keep walking I'll find it eventually._ Luz continues to look for the store with no success. Instead of finding the store, she ends up at a park. Kids are running around, laughing without a care in the world. She will be the first to admit, that even at her age Luz will still run to the playground and head straight to the slides. She slumps into a bench and watches them goof around for a while. 

Then she hears a thumping sound coming from behind her. Luz wants to go see what it is, but it could be a deadie. _There is a fence that protects the town, so it probably isn't a deadie. So, in conclusion, I'm gonna check it out._ Standing up, she walks towards some bushes and walks into them. She walks about 3 minutes before she gets some woods. Sticking her head out the bushes Luz sees a girl standing in the middle of a couple of trees. Her hair is dyed a turquoise-blue, and she wears round glasses over her green eyes. It seems like she's been working out. Her light skin shines with sweat, and it looks like she's taking deep breaths. 

Luz watches as she fixes her stance, brings her arm back, and throws a knife towards a tree. It makes it right in the middle of the tree. _Awesome holy crap!!_ Her legs move before she even knows it, and she right beside the girl in seconds. "Wow!! That was fantastic-" Luz never gets to finish her sentence before she's in the air, and then her back slams into the ground. She lays there for a second. trying to understand what just happened. The girl looks at her with a panicked expression, "I'm so sorry! Are you okay" Luz tries to laugh. but it comes out as a groan. "It's okay. I just landed on my spleen." The girl giggles, "Do you know where you're spleen even is." 

With some help from the girl, Luz stands up. Rubbing her back, Luz says, "No, but I sounded cool in my head." The girl smiles at her and stares at Luz curiously. Then her eyes widen, and she seizes Luz by the shoulders. "You're a new kid! What's your name? Where did you come from?" The girl keeps looking at her excitedly. Luz stands there a bit dumbfounded. The last time someone looked at Luz like that was when she got home from school, and her clothes were clean. Her mami would always sigh in relief that she didn't have to buy Luz new clothes.

"Uhm, yes, I'm the new kid, Luz. I live in Medford, Oregon. And can I know your name Miss. throw knives at innocent trees?" The girl drops her hands to her side and blushes a bit. "You saw that?" Luz nods her head and smiles at her, "I sure did! You're amazing!! The way you throw it and the precision you have. Can you show me again?" The poor girl blushes even more, "Aww, shucks. I'm not that good, but yeah, I can show you." 

She backs away from Luz and picks another knife up. Just like before, she fixes her stance, pulls her arm back; and brings it back faster than last time. The knife hits its target with perfect aim. _Oh my god, did she get better in minutes!_ Luz is bouncing on her feet, watching the girl with joy. The girl smiles at her, "My name is Willow. Nice to meet you, Luz." 

"Well, Willow, can I just say that you are a beast with that knife." They keep smiling at each other when a crash is heard; around them. Flinching, Luz stares at Willow that looks tired. "That's probably from Tommy's store. There's always something going on there." Perking up, Luz asks, "Wait, did you say Tommy's Store? Do you know where I can find it?" 

"Yeah, it's just up ahead on the left." Luz is a second away from running to find the store, but she doesn't want to stop talking to Willow.

"Could you maybe show me where it is? I tend to get lost easily." Giving her a kind smile, Willow nods and motions Luz to follow her. They walk together, all the while Luz asks Willow about herself. Luz learns that Willow is the only child like her and that her fathers own a flower shop. Also that she learned how to use a knife in school. _Who would've thought a school would kids how to play with knives. I want to go there._

Faster than Luz would like, they reach a small blue store that has posters all over its windows. Walking inside, the air conditioner hits her face, and two men are arguing over something. Willow drags her to an isle and turns to face her. "So Luz, what are we looking for?" Confused, Luz says, "You're going to help me?" Chuckling Willow, looks at her, "Of course, I am. Why wouldn't I?" _Because no one ever has._

"I don't want to waste your time."

"Come on Luz, you seem like a nice person, and I don't exactly have much to do anyway." 

Luz feels her heart soar. Taking Willow's offer, she takes out Eda's list and unfolds it. It looks pretty normal; some groceries, bandages, and way too much coffee. Showing Willow, they start to look for everything. Luz just talks to Willow none stop. Telling her random things and asking her stupid things. Not once does Willow tell her to stop or to go away. _Maybe I just made a friend. It only took the apocalypse for me to make one._

When they're trying to pick some fruit, someone runs into Willow. "Willow, have you heard the news yet?!" It's a younger boy that is looking at Willow excited. He looks about 13 with dark skin and dark brown eyes. He just radiates excitement. Giggling Willow; looks down at him, "No Augustus I haven't heard anything yet."

"Apparently, the undead can smell the difference between animals and humans. That's why they don't attack animals." Luz freezes and turns to face the boy. "Did you just talk about the deadies?" Augustus stares at Luz with absolute joy. "You've seen the undead?! How do they look up close? Do they smell rotten? Is it true they're super strong?" 

Willow puts a hand on his shoulder, "Augustus, don't bombard Luz with so many questions. She might not want to talk about it." She looks at Luz worriedly, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to." 

Giving Willow a small smile, she says, "I know an Augustus back home we call him Gus. As for your questions, they look horrifying, smell even worse than rotten, and I'm not sure about their strength." He looks even happier now. "A nickname, call me it!" Luz grins at him while Willow laughs at his antics. "So you guys do know about the deadies here. You guys seem so calm here it's hard to you do?" 

Willow and Gus glance at each other, "Uhm, we do know, but the mayor started to gather supplies and finished the fence months ago. Everyone in town feels pretty safe, thanks to that. Most of them choose to ignore everything that is going on," Willow tells Luz. _Well, that explains a lot. It's good they haven't seen them yet. Nobody ever needs to see that._

"Also the fact that the town isn't close to any big cities and not many of the undead are bound to pop up." Gus furrows his eyebrows, "Luz, you're new here. How did you end up here?" 

"Oh, Eda found me in a cabin about an hour away from my home. Told me to get in the car, and here we are." Both of them look at her in surprise. Willow is the first one to react, "The owl lady brought you here? No way."

Now it's Luz's turn to be surprised. "Yeah, she did. Why wouldn't she?" 

"She usually keeps to herself. I've never seen her bring someone here apart from the little kid that's always with her."

_They why did she bring me here then?_

"Not that we're saying it's bad that you're here. It's nice to see another friendly face here." Willow is waving her hands in the air, trying to explain herself. Luz busts out laughing while Willow lets out a frustrated sigh. "I'm sorry, I'm not making fun of you. You don't have to explain yourself. I know that Eda is a bit odd, but so am I, so it's cool." Both of them smile at Luz before they go back to looking for Eda's things. Gus and Willow spend the time telling Luz about the town and all the things they could together. The entire time Luz couldn't be happier. Not only did she gain a mentor, but two friends in the span of three days. Now she only has to find her mom, and even if the deadies are roaming around, she'll be truly happy. 

Luz is stuck in her head that she didn't notice a girl walking in her direction. They collide with each other and tumble to the floor. Because the universe likes to play with her, Luz ends up on top of the girl. Luz pulls back a bit and looks at the girl. Her hair is dyed green with her brown roots starting to come in. She has the most beautiful golden eyes Luz has ever seen, even if they looked pissed off right now. She pushes Luz off her and stands up. Dusting herself off, she glares at Luz the entire time. "Watch where you're going, idiot." she snaps at her. Turning on her heel, she walks out of the store. 

Willow and Gus rush to her side before Luz can even understand what just happened. "Are you okay, Luz?" Picking herself up, Luz turns to them. "Who was she?" 

Gus answers her, "Oh, that's Amity Blight. You don't want to mess with her." 

_Amity. That's a pretty name._

"Noted, but it might be too late for that. She looked really mad."

Willow pats her back, "It'll be fine. Come on, let's finish getting your things."

They get everything left on the list, and Luz puts everything on Eda's tab even if the clerk looks at her suspiciously. 

They walk together a little longer before Gus has to go home and Willow to her dad's shop. Luz ends up alone with no idea where Eda and King could be at. She wanders around aimless for a while before she sees King trying to pickpocket a lady. Luz doesn't know whether to intervene or watch. The choice is made for her when Eda comes from behind him and picks him up. She can hear as King complains that he almost had her wallet. "King, I've told you before not to do that." _Who would've known? Eda actually doesn't want him to steal._ "You have to wait for them to be distracted before you can take it." _That's more like it._

King huffs but immediately smiles when he sees Luz. 

"Luz! Did you bring me my candy?" Rummaging through the bags, she pulls out a bag of gummy worms. He lets out a squeal and starts to shove them in his mouth. "You're going to choke if you keep eating like that." Eda walks up to them and takes some bags from Luz. "Nice job, kid. Let's go home now. I've had enough human interaction for today." Heading back, the market seems a lot quieter now that it's late afternoon. Even though the sun isn't going to set for another hour, a lot of people seem to be going inside already. 

Going back to the gate, Jerbo is still there. He waves at Luz and opens the gate for them. "Adiós, Jerbo!" Walking back to the owl house, King somehow finds his way onto Luz's shoulders. It's hard to balance him while holding bags, but she manages. When they arrive, Hooty is at the door with his staff in hand. "Hoot, hoot, did you bring me my spearhead?" He tilts his head and looks at Eda. She pulls something out of her pocket at tosses it at him. Hooty catches and laughs as he starts to fix his staff. Inside the house, they start to put everything in place while King runs off to the living room. 

While Luz and Eda are in the kitchen fixing dinner, he comes back with a skull on his head. It has two horns on it, and one of them is broken in half. It still has fresh paint on it dripping onto his face. "Bow down to the king of demons!" Luz pulls out her phone and takes about a dozen pictures before Eda forces him to change. After a chaotic dinner that involved a fire, Luz almost choking on water, and King throwing food at Eda the whole time, they went to bed. Somehow King ended up in her room again and taking over her sleep bag. Like last night Luz ends up at the window. 

_It wasn't a bad day. I made two friends, and I may have pissed off Amity, but it was a nice day. I'm somewhere safe, and no doubt mami is okay and looking for me._ Opening her messages, she reads the last text from her mom. Luz doesn't know if she has services here or if her mami will even get this, but it's worth a shot. 

*Hey mami! I don't know where you are, but I hope that you're okay. I want you to know that I made it out of the city. I meet Eda, and she brought me to her house. I'm not entirely sure where we are, but it's somewhere in California. Also, guess what I made two friends!! I think you'll like them.

*I'm scared, but I know that everything will be fine. Please be okay. I promise I'll find you. Te amo Mami.

Luz pressed send and stares at it, hoping that the message will change to read, but nothing happens. She slips her phone into her pocket, hoping that tomorrow will be another good day. _Maybe Eda might even start teaching me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That took a lot longer to write then I thought it would. Especially when your brother decides to mess with you the entire time, but I made it. Leave your thoughts in the comments.


	5. Training?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I'm sorry this took so long to update. Life just got messy as always but here we are with the new chapter. I want to thank everyone who left such nice comments on this. It really makes my day reading them. I hope you guys enjoy this. Let's get on with the show. -Creature  
> P.S. Italics are Luz's inner thoughts.

_ I'm dying. _

That's the only explanation Luz can come up with, to why she can't feel her legs. She woke up this morning, and her entire body just refused to cooperate. Luz only has herself to blame for this. For the last three days, Eda has had her do more exercises than she can count. Luz didn't even know half of them existed until she had to do them. Eda told her to take it easy, but Luz being Luz, said that she could take it. Now she can't even get up.

She is sore and tired of doing the same things every day. By now, Luz would've thought that she'd maybe already hold a weapon. Granted, she knows been three days, but Luz isn't patient.  _ I mean, the freaking apocalypse is happening around us, and I still don't even know how to hold a knife properly.  _ Rolling off her sleeping bag, Luz lays on the floor for a second before attempting to get up again. Her legs are trembling, but finally, she stands up. Wobbling around to change is hard than it should be. Falling on her face twice and putting her shirt backward, Luz finally makes out of her room.

Stopping at the top of the stairs, Luz contemplates scooting down the stairs. Of course, that's when King comes running by her, and Luz loses her balance. Five seconds later, she finds herself at the bottom of the stairs.  _ What are a few bruises apart from the soreness. Just going lay here and rethink my life.  _ Closing her eyes, Luz lays there with her aching body when she feels someone over her. "Kid, are you going to lay there all day?" 

"Would that be such a bad thing?"

Eda lets a big laugh, "Well, considering we're going into town today. Yeah, it would be."

Sitting up as fast as she can, Luz looks up at her mentor. "Are we really going back?" 

"Yes, kid. Come on; I want to get there quickly." Even though her entire body protests, Luz stands up and grabs her things. With her bat in hand and phone in her pocket, she follows Eda out. "Wait, is King not coming with us? 

"After the stunt, he pulled yesterday, he sure as hell isn't," Eda snorts. 

Last night after dinner, King tried to 'help' Eda get rid of some raccoons in the attic. He ended up almost falling out the window, and Eda with a dozen bites and scratches on her, thanks to his brilliant idea. Luz caught the whole thing on camera. Of course, afterward, Eda made her clean the entire attic. Luz was there till midnight moving boxes and praying that a raccoon wasn't hiding behind something. 

Now Luz is buzzing with excitement, completely ignoring that her body is objecting to every movement. She hasn't seen Willow or Guz since she last went into town. Maybe they can do something together while Eda does whatever she needs to do.  _ We could go hang out and do whatever. Maybe, I can even get Willow to teach me how to use a knife.  _ Luz is coming up with ideas when Eda throws her a sack full of things. Her legs almost give out one her when she fumbles to catch it. "Uhm, Eda, what is this for?"

"Well, kid, you didn't think we were going to town for a stroll, right? We have work to do, and you are going to help me."

Grunting, Luz lifts the sack and throws it over her shoulder. With her legs shaking, Luz starts to follow Eda. This isn't what Luz thought her day would look like at all. She's spent hours exercising for days, and now she has to carry whatever is inside this sack to town.  _ You would've thought Eda would at least hold my bat for me, but nope.  _ The entire walk to town Luz just focused on trying not to fall on her face. By the time they reached the gate, Luz couldn't feel her arms and was ready for a nap. 

This time Jerbo was ready for them and quickly opened the gate. "Hey, Luz! Nice to see you again." Jerbo smiles at her, but all Luz can say is, "Hey...Hey Jerbo. Same t-too you."  _ It's kind of hard to talk when you're trying to catch your breath.  _ She gives him the best wave she can manage before she follows Eda. The universe seems to take some mercy on Luz, and Eda finally stops and tells her she can put the bag down. "So, are you going to tell me what's in the bag?" Looking into Luz's eyes, Eda says, " Bricks." The two of them stare at each other. "Are you being serious?" Eda laughs, "Holy crap! You actually believed that! No, it's just a bunch of trinkets that we're going to trade." 

"Trade? What for?"

"Kid, we need to get food somehow. Money can only get you so far."

_ Well, that makes sense, but what could Eda have that anybody would want?  _

Opening the bag, Eda pulled out a pocket watch. It looked brand new, and the sliver shined in the sun. They walk to a place called Redstone Bakery. The door chimes as they walk in and a mid-age man is at the counter. Looking up, he grins at Eda, "Morning, E! Can I get you the usual?"

"Hey, Lex! You know it!" 

Going to the back of the shop, he starts to pour Eda a cup of coffee. He not so discreetly grabs a bottle and pours a red liquid into the cup. _ Well, it isn't new to drink apple blood this earlier around here. Now I wonder how it tastes? Maybe I can get Eda to give me some. _

Lex comes around the counter and places the mug in front of Eda. She snatches the cup and takes a sip of the drink. "That always hits the right spot." Chuckling, he places another cup in front of Luz. "I thought you could use a pick me up." Looking at the cup, Luz realizes it's hot chocolate. Gently picking it up, she takes a small sip from it. It's so good. Almost as good as her mami's. Luz starts to chug it, ignoring that it burns her throat. Once she finishes, she turns toward Lex, "Thank you so much!" 

Smiling at Luz, he says, "No problem, I know how hard it is to handle Eda." 

"Hey!!"

"Eda, we both know that you are a mess. Knowing you, you have this poor girl doing some shady shit for you." Grumbling Eda goes back to her drink and ignores him. "Luz, this is Lex. Lex, this is Luz, my apprentice."

"You going to teach her how to scam properly." Luz thought that no one would ever talk to the Owl Lady like that without getting their butt kicked. Yet Lex is still standing, grinning at both of them. "Well, Lexy, our world is going to shit, and I happen to know how not to die," Eda says back. Huffing, he says, "You're not wrong about the world and your capability of kicking ass, but what exactly have you taught the girl." 

Eda sits there for a second before replying, "You know stuff."

"Uh-huh, so I take it Eda hasn't taught you much just yet." Luz wasn't expecting the conversation to turn to her, so she doesn't even know what to say.  _ Okay, so we tell him the truth about how you haven't learned anything but exercise. But that might hurt Eda's feelings, but then again, Eda doesn't seem the type to get upset over stuff like that. Ahhhhhh, I've been quiet for too long just say something.  _ "Uhm, I mean, I've learned some things, but not much."

Lex squints his eyes. "So what you're telling me is that you've learned nothing." Luz keeps looking at him, trying to find something to say, but she comes up blank. Instead, she changes the subject, "So, Eda, what did we come here for? Not that it's a bad thing, Lex, your hot chocolate was amazing." 

"Oh yeah! Dear Lexy, I brought you something you might like." The Owl Lady pulls the pocket watch out of her pocket and hands it to Lex. His eyes bulge when he gets a good look at it. "E, how did you even get this back?" Smirking into her drink, Eda says, "You know I have my ways." 

Lex traces his finger over the engraving on the watch. It was a rose with two swords crossing behind it. He looks at it with a soft smile before putting it into his apron pocket. "Thank you, E. I've been trying to get back forever, but I do know you want something back, so what is it." Putting her cup down, Eda looks at him. "Honestly, nothing gets past you. I just want to get free bread whenever I want."

"You already do that daily, Eda. What do you really want." They stare at each other before Eda speaks. "Kid, take the bag and go. Take the golden ring to Al's weapons and tell him to give you ten packs of bullets for now. I'll get the rest another day. Then there's a list of things inside that you need to do." Confused but taking her dismal, Luz heaves the sack over her shoulder, grabs the bat, and heads out of the shop. Once she's out, Luz turns her head and sees how Eda and Lex walk to the back of the shop.  _ That's weird. What is Eda up to now, and how does Lex know her? _

At the moment, Luz doesn't think about it too hard. She has a job to do. Putting the bag down, Luz opens it and searches for the ring. Finding a lot of strange stuff in it, she finally spots the ring at the bottom. It's a gold square signet men's ring.  _ Holy crap!!! Why does Eda just have this laying around?!?! Also, where did she even get this from?  _ Slipping the ring into her pocket, Luz looks around and tries to figure out where Al's is at.  _ Eda really tells me to go somewhere and proceeds not to tell me where it's at.  _ With the bag and bat in hand, Luz takes a random direction and starts searching down this shop.

. . . 

Luz got lost about five times before she finally comes across a stand in the middle of the market. The owner was an older guy with white hair and a permanent scowl. When she showed him the ring and told him who it was from, his scowl got even deeper. He also doesn't look happy when Luz tells him what Eda told her to say. Squatting down, he pulls ten boxes of bullets and pushes them towards her. "Tell Eda that she shouldn't expect much next time she comes back." Not wanting to stay any longer than she needs to, Luz puts the boxes in the bag and hurries away. 

That was one of the easier things she had to do. Some of the people she had to take stuff to didn't even want to talk to her. A lady even threw a vase at her and told her to scram. Another person invited her inside, but they looked like they were up to no good, so she ran off. At the end of the day she had done most things on the list, and the sack was filled with things that people had given Eda in return.  _ It's been hours, and I haven't seen Eda at all. What is she even doing?  _ Running a hand through her short hair, Luz tries to think about what she should do now. Right, when she's about to go, look for her mentor, she spots Willow from afar. 

Willow's beside a stand with tools looking annoyed as a girl with pink hair is talking to her. She looks about ready to walk away when she spots Luz. She breaks into a smile and runs over to her. Willow hugs Luz as she says, "Luz! I'm so glad to see you again!" Pulling away, Luz grins, "Hey Willow! Sorry about that Eda has had me doing stuff for her these past few days."

"It's alright. At least now we can do something together. That is if you're not busy." Bouncing at the balls of her feet, Lux exclaims, "Yes, let's go do something!" Before Willow can say anything back, the girl with pink hair walks up to them. Looking up and down at Luz, she says, "Willow, who is this?" The girl has pink hair tied up in a bun. She's wearing a varsity jacket over a pink shirt and is wearing dark blue sports shorts. She glares at Luz the entire time before Willow says something. "Luz this Boscha. Boscha, this is my friend Luz." Boscha's glare gets even worse after Willow introduces them. "Where did this loser even come from?" 

With a tried sigh, Willow retorts, "Boscha would it kill you to be polite once in your life?" Smirking at Willow, Boscha says, "Maybe if you ask nicely, flower, I would." Luz can see Willow's patience slowly leaving her. She thinks Willow's about to say something, but instead, she takes a deep breath and looks at Luz. "Luz, would you want to go with me to my parents' shop?" Luz nods her head, and Willow grabs her hand and starts to walk down the street. "Well, it was a pain to talk to you Boscha, see ya later!" Boscha looks pissed off being left there by herself before she yells, "You can't keep that up forever, Willow!" 

Luz hears Willow mumble under breath, "Try me." They walk a few minutes in silence before Luz asks, " So who was that?" Sighing, Willow lets go of her hand and sits down on the curb. "Boscha is an acquaintance at best." Luz plops down beside Willow and waits for her to continue. "I've known Boscha since we were kids, and she's been a pain in my side since then. She bullied me up till last year before she stopped." 

Frowning, Luz says, "Bully you? Why would she do that?" 

"When we were little, I didn't learn as fast as the other kids, and Boscha thought it was hilarious. Called me all sorts of names and did that for years. Maybe my lif _ e  _ hell for no good reason _."  _

_ Why would anyone make fun of someone for their troubles? Why would anyone mess with Willow? " _ Why she stop?" The question brings a smile to Willow's face. "I beat her in a game of rugby." Luz's eyes widen, "Wait, a game of rugby got her to stop? How?" With pride written all over her face, Willow starts to explain. "Boscha's the captain of the rugby team at school, and she thinks that she's the best like always. One day I was out on the field working out when she walks up to me. Starts to say that my form is awful and a bunch of other stuff. She kept going, and eventually, I said that she wasn't even that good at rugby, so she could leave me alone. Big mistake. Instead, she got pissed off and threw the ball at me. Challenged me to a game so she could show me who's boss." Willow makes a face before she keeps going, "You see, the thing about Boscha is that she is an incredible rugby player. I just said that so she could leave me alone, but it backfired. I found myself playing against her. I guess she thought I couldn't play or something, so she got cocky. Thanks to that, I was able to score two more points than her. In the end, I won, and she stomped off the field. The next day she didn't say anything to me. But then, a couple of months ago, she started to talk to me like nothing happen. I just ignore her for the most part."

Luz stares at Willow, starstruck. "You are, without a doubt, one of the coolest people I have ever meet." A blush rises to Willow's face, and she ducks her head down and smiles. "Thank you, Luz. Not many people think that." 

Luz doesn't even hesitate to reassure her friend, "Well their idiots then. You are incredible in so many ways." Willow looks at Luz's eyes. It seems to her that Willow is looking for something there. In the end, whatever she finds satisfies her because she smiles wide and gives Luz a side hug. "Come on, let's go find Gus. He's probably near the gate."

. . .

It takes them about 15 minutes to get to the gate from where they were. Luz sees Gus at the gate with a tablet in hand, watching something. "Hey, Gus!" Willow yells and waves at him. He acknowledges them with a small head nod before going back to his tablet. Walking over to him, Luz peers over his shoulder and finds that he's watching the news.  _ So I'm not the only one with service still. It seems the town still has it, and from the news, other places do too.  _ He seems so immersed in it that Willow and Luz look at each other with eyebrows raised. Luz glances at the tablet and sees a deadie walking by in the video. That immediately catches her attention. She keeps her gaze on it and starts to notice things that she didn't notice at first. It's late afternoon, and the quality is shaky. The view is from a window in the city. It's abandoned, from the looks of it, and everything is a mess. Cars are in the middle of the street, and random stuff litter the ground. The sheer amount of deadies on the street is terrifying. They're just walking around aimlessly, and they vary from their looks. Some look better than others, while some look like they just got mauled.

The video counties with the person recording the deadies before something is heard moving in the background. A golden retriever comes from behind a car, and chaos breaks loose. The deadies go rabid, and some of them even run towards the dog, the rest not far behind. The poor dog can't even get away before one of them lunges at them. The deadie sinks its teeth into the dog's back. More of them join it and start to claw at the dog. From the position of the camera; you can see how they rip the dog apart and hear its howls of agony. The person behind the camera is crying, and the video cuts off.

The news lady starts talking again, but Luz tunes her out. All she can see is the poor dog getting killed. It reminds her of Mr.Reese. How he yelled when they started to kill him too. She looks over at Willow, who looks sick from what they just watched. "Gus, you really shouldn't be watching that." Gus turns to her, "But Willow, we need to know how they act so we have a chance to survive." "Gus, the only thing we learned from that is that they will eat anything that is living, and we already knew that."

Gus pouts, "I know that, but I want to know everything about them. Though I will say that it was nasty to watch that." Shaking her head, Willow turns towards Luz. Her expression shifts to concern when she looks at Luz.

"Luz, are you okay? You look kind of pale." Perking up a bit, Luz lets out a small laugh. "Yeah, I'm good."  _ That poor dog isn't though. Nor is Mr.Reese, and lord knows how's my mami doing.  _ "Gus, why are you here at the gate?" Luz asks just to clear her head a bit. Moving in front of them, Gus starts to explain, "The last two days, some of the guards have had to take out some of the monsters. I wanted to see if I could catch a glimpse of one." Pinching the bridge of her nose, Willow huffs. "So what you're telling me is that you want to see one of those even after you're dad told you not to get near the gate." "When you say it like that, you make it sound like it's a bad thing." Aggravated Willow says, "That's because it's a terrible idea, Gus. Let's just go." 

Gus runs in front of Willow and gets down on his knees. "Please, Willow, let's just wait for a little and see if we can get a picture of one of them. I'll even help you out in the greenhouse next time you need to go." Willow stares down at him and turns her head to Luz. Luz shrugs because she honestly doesn't have anything better to do. Hopefully, they won't see anything. That's the last thing Luz wants to see today.

Sighing, Willow stands up straight and says, "Alright, we'll wait for a little, but then we're going to the greenhouse so I can show Luz my Venus Flytrap." Gus jumps up and down cheering, and Luz laughs.  _ Willow has a venus flytrap? Who would've thought? Now that is something I want to see.  _ Gus walks up to the gate and looks around before sitting down on the ground. Willow pulls out a folded piece of paper from her pocket. It's a target with a couple of holes on it. "If we're going to wait here, we might as well do something productive." That catches Luz's attention, and she jumps to the chance of learning something new. "Willow, could you teach me how to throw a knife." Surprised, Willow looks at her, "I thought the Owl Lady would teach you." Grimacing, Luz replies, "Her methods are a bit untraditional."

"Alright, I can show you the basics, but I'm no expert." Jumping up and down, Luz throws her arms around Willow, "Yes!! Thank you, Willow!!" Walking up to a tree nearby, Willow pins the target on it. "For starts relax your body, you don't want to be tense. You might overthrow the knife if you're tense." Luz watches as Willow rolls her shoulders and takes a deep breath. "Stand up straight. If you're right-handed, keep your right foot forward and the left one slightly behind it." She fixes her stand, "Now make sure you're the right distance away from the target." Willow pulls her knife out of its sheath. "Hold the knife like you would hold a hammer. Keep your thumb above your other fingers. Make sure no finger is in the trajectory of your throw. Hold the knife pointing towards the sky. Now throw it with moderate force." 

Luz nods along, trying to keep up with everything. She watches Willow fix her stance, hold her knife with a firm grip. In a moment, Willow throws her knife, and it hits right on the bullseye.  _ There is no way I will ever be able to be that good. _ "Willow, that was a perfect throw!! You are awesome!!" Luz runs up to Willow, "Thank you, Luz. That's very nice of you, but really, I'm not that good." Luz is quick to disagree, "Yes, you are! I don't have a lot of experience when it comes to this, but even I know that was amazing." Heat rises to Willow's cheeks, and she giggles. "Come on; it's your turn lets see how it goes." 

Eagerly Luz takes Willow's place in front of the tree. Grabbing the knife, Luz gets a good look at it. It's about seven and a half inches long with a black handle. Not as fancy as Eda's, but it gets the job, that's for sure. Fixing her stance as Willow did, she looks at the bullseye and tries to throw it as Willow had done. Instead of hitting the target, it flys past the tree and slams into a house. Both of them wince when they watch it collide with it. "I mean, at least you didn't hurt anyone." "If you don't count the house," Luz laughs out.

They spend the next thirty minutes practicing, and Luz gets a bit better with each throw. Though she almost did hit a cat that was passing by. Luz can feel her confidence get bigger, and she's having a lot of fun with Willow and Gus. She tells her what to improve and encourages her at the same time. Gus being Gus, chimes in once and a while telling them something he thinks about the deadies. Not exactly what she wants, but his enthusiasm is hard to ignore. They don't mess with her or call her names. Luz knows that wouldn't do that, but that little voice in her head is telling her that it won't last. She focuses on the moment right now, and hopefully, it'll go away. 

While she's getting ready to throw again when she feels like someone is looking at her. Turning her head, she's meet with golden eyes. Just like last time, they distract her, and she completely misses the tree. The knife hits a mailbox and drops. Luz turns to it and back to Amity. Amity is staring at Luz with a smug look. Luz feels a blush start to rise at the base of her neck.  _ A smug look with that pretty face is a recipe for disaster. Especially; when she's looking at me.  _ "Nice going, new kid! Maybe next time you'll hit the actual target!" Amity yells from the sidewalk. That doesn't help Luz's blush at all.

She was so focused on Amity that Luz didn't notice that Boscha walked up beside her. "Hey, loser, the tree was over there! Heyyyy, Willow!" "Go away, Boshca! Maybe even take Amity with you too." 

"Only if you accept my offer, flower!" Rolling her eyes, Willow says, "In your dreams, Boshca! Just leave." Amity turns over to Boshca, "Are you still trying that? She clearly doesn't want to. You might as well leave it alone." She gives Willow a small nod that Willow reciprocates. Though they both look awkward doing it.  _ So there has to be a back story to that.  _

"Do you think you can learn how to throw a knife in a day? At the rate you're going, you'll never get it." Amity looks straight into Luz's eyes when she says that. She looks annoyed at her like she just offended her entire being. 

Amity starts to walk up to them, and Luz freezes up.  _ What in the world is going on? It's just a pretty girl, no big deal Luz.  _ She stops in front of Luz and waits before Luz gets the message and moves out the way. Amity pulls a knife from her belt and gets into position. Her stance is perfectly straight, and she looks determined. Luz doesn't even see it coming when Amity throws her knife. She throws with incredible speed, and it lands right in the center of the target. Moving her head, she smirks at Luz, "That's how you do it, new girl." Willow folds her arms over her chest, her expression annoyed. Luz doesn't know what to say for a minute before her mouth starts to work. "Though I appreciate the nickname, my name is Luz."

Rolling her eyes Amity replies, "I don't care what your name." Turning on her heel, she walks back to Boscha, and they start to head off. Boscha looks back at Willow one last time, winks and leaves. Willow stands there looking about ready to call it a day. 'So that was something," Luz starts. With a tried voice, Willow says, "Yeah, those two can make quite a pair. Believe it or nor that was one of their better moments."  _ It's not that hard to believe. They look like they would do that. _ "What's up with Boshca, though? Why she wink at you?" 

"Ughhh, don't even get me started with that. That's her new way to talk to me, and it's aggravating." Nodding, Luz picks her bat up and goes over to Gus. "Any luck?" Frowning, Gus says, "No. I haven't seen anything." Willow walks up to them and opens her mouth to say something. She never gets to though, because the next thing they know a scream breaks the silence. Whipping her head around, Luz looks through the gate and sees Jerbo fighting with a deadie. Before Luz even knows it, she's yanking the gate open and runs over to him. Lifting her bat, she smashes it over its head. The deadie stumbles back and snarls at both of them. It charges at them teeth bearing. Its gray skin and black eyes almost make Luz runoff, but she can't leave Jerbo here. Bending her knees, her right elbow up, she waits for the deadie to be close enough. Then she swings, and blood sprays from its head. It crumbles to the ground and doesn't move. A pool of ichor is forming around it. Breathing heavy, Luz turns around to check on Jerbo; and so she can stop looking at the deadie. "Are-are you okay?" 

Giving her a nod, Jerbo says, "Y-yeah, I'm okay. I wasn't expecting them to be so strong." "Luz!" Turning around, Luz sees Willow and Gus running towards her. 

"How did you even do that?!"

"Are you hurt?" 

They start talking over each other. Lifting her hands, Luz says, "Whoa, guys! Calm down! I'm okay, and I'm not entirely sure how I did that."

"You moved so fast!" Gus stares at the deadie with interest while Willow looks over her making sure she is okay. Willow puts her hand on her shoulder, "I'm glad you're okay, but next time try to give us a warning. You scared me." Rubbing her neck, Luz chuckles, "Sorry about that Willow, I'll try to do that next time" 

They aren't paying attention when a small crowd starts to form around them. Looking up, Luz notices that her mentor is at the front of it. Before anything, Luz helps Jerbo up and makes sure he's fine. When she believes that he's okay, she turns and helps Willow drag Gus away before he touches the deadie. Stopping in front of Eda, they stare at each other before Eda finally says something. "It didn't get you did it?" Luz shakes her head. Humming Eda says, "That's good I don't need you turning on me now." Now that she says it, Luz can feel herself start to shake. She just killed a deadie. It's her first one, and it doesn't feel good. Luz didn't hesitate to help Jerbo, but now that adrenaline isn't rushing through her, she feels sick.  _ I just killed one. Ay Dios, I killed it. _

Her eyes go to the small crowd behind Eda. Luz's eyes fall on green hair. Amity is looking at her with a blank expression. Luz watches her eyes drift to the corpse and back to her. They stare at each other before she walks away. "Come on, kid let's get you home." The walk home doesn't seem appealing at all, but she puts a brave face on. She gets a hug from both her friends before she follows Eda. When she remembers the sack she left behind, she sees that Eda already has it. 

They walk in silence for a bit before Eda starts to talk. "I know that wasn't pretty, but it's good you helped that kid." Luz only nods, trying not to fall on her knees. She could've died. She would've died, and she'd never see her mami again. That's terrifying. "You might not want to talk, but I have some good news for you." Luz looks at Eda, waiting for her to continue. "Lex was able to give me his old gear. I think it might fit you, so if you're up for it, we'll start training tomorrow." That immediately lifts Luz's spirits."Are you for real?!" 

"After what you pulled off today, I think I should start. When I'm done, with you, you're going to be unstoppable." Grinning, Luz cheers and runs ahead of Eda.  _ I'm going to learn how to fight! Watch out deadies Luz Noceda is coming for you!  _

When they get home, she feels her phone buzz. Her heart starts to race, and she fumbles to pull her phone out. One new message: Mami

*Mija, I'm sorry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger yay! I know this has nothing to do with the fic but I just want to say I finally got my undercut. I feel amazing. Hope you guys have a wonderful day.


	6. Training Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me just apologize for taking forever to post this. It honestly shouldn't have taken so long to finish but school got in the way. I hope you guys enjoy this and I'll try to post the next chapter sooner. Let's get on with the show!

*Mija, I'm sorry.

Luz feels her heart drop. It takes a second for her brain to catch up, and she finally makes her hands move.

*Mami, what's wrong?! Where are you?!?

She stood there praying for an answer to come through. It didn't take long for the text bubble to pop up. 

*Luz, I'm so glad you're safe, but I can't go to you, baby. Things are much worse than they seem. 

*Mami, what's going on? Where are you? 

Luz can only hope that she's not far. Maybe she could go, find her. 

*After evacuating, they put us in cars with the patients, and we left. Everything was a mess we could barely get out of there. The military caught up with us and took us. We drove for hours before we stopped at a base. Rushed us in before those things caught up. I've been here ever since, but things aren't going great.

*Baby, I don't know when I'll be able to see you or when I can talk to you, but please be careful, stay safe. Te Amo.

Luz tried to wrap her head around what she just read. Her mom is safe, but she might not be at any second.

*Mami, please don't leave me, I'll wait for you here. I love you.

She stands outside the Owl house and waits for her mom to answer, but she never does. The bubble never appears, and Luz is left feeling empty.

_ At least now you know that she is fine, but for how long? She could get trapped there, and the deadies could break-in.  _

Her chest feels tight. Luz can feel her breath deepening.  _ I might never see her again.  _ The panic was setting in, taking over her without mercy. It doesn't make it better than Luz doesn't know what to do. The times this happens, her mom was there to help her. Now she doesn't know if she'll even see her again.

The pressure on her chest is getting unbearable when Luz sees something drop in front of her. Looking up, she waits for her eyes to adjust, and Luz notices it's Hooty in front of her. He's staring at her with his big eyes. It shouldn't be so funny how he looks with the owl mask on, but it is. Maybe it's the hysteria Luz is feeling, but she starts laughing. She completely loses it all while Hooty just looks at her curiously. 

When Luz is finally able to control herself, she wipes her eyes and looks at Hooty. "Are you okay, hoot?" Shaking her head, Luz says, "Not really, Hooty." Hooty tilts his head, "Do you want to hear a story?" Even if that sounds like a nice distraction, Luz knows that once you get Hooty talking, he won't stop any time soon. Smiling at him, Luz says, "Thanks, Hooty, but I'm going to head inside." It doesn't bother Hooty instead, he shrugs and starts climbing back to the roof. 

Taking a deep breath, Luz opens the door and heads inside. All she wants to do right now is stop thinking of all the worst-case scenarios and start training. Of course, when she opens the door, Luz is greeted with plushies all around her.  _ This isn't the weirdest thing I've ever walked in on, but what the heck? _ Carefully she walks around; so she doesn't step on them. Out of nowhere, a tiny hand grabs her ankle. Luz's first instinct is to kick whatever grabbed her, but she sees a skull hat above the sea of plushies. 

King pops his head above everything and smiles at Luz. "Luz, join my loyal army and help me conquer my enemies!"  _ Holy crap, I almost had a heart attack.  _ "Sure, buddy, but first, let me go ask Eda something quick." Pouting a bit, King lets go of Luz and nods before going right back to commending his army. Heading to the kitchen, Luz finds Eda cooking something that gives off a weird smell. "Hey kid, what took you so long?" 

"Oh, I was just thinking about something outside."  _ More like I was panicking. _

"So Eda, quick question. You wouldn't happen to know where any military bases around Oregon are?" Rising her eyebrow at Luz, Eda thinks for a while before she says, " Well, it depends on where you're going. There's a lot of them around Oregon, and not to mention there's some in Oregon too."  _ That didn't narrow it down at all. Also, how does she even know that?  _ "But where exactly are they at?" Eda fixes her gaze on Luz and furrows her brows. 

"Luz, why exactly do you need to know this?" Luz looks everywhere but at Eda, trying to form the words to explain it to her.  _ Why is this so hard? Come on, Luz, you can do it.  _ "My mom is in a military base a couple of hours away from Medford, and I want to figure out which one she's at." Eda turns back to the pot and stirs it for a while before she speaks again. "The military started stationing in bases all over the country, but they're not using all of them. If they drove for hours out of Medford, the most reliable base would maybe be Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada." 

_ Okay, now we have an option of where she might be, but mom might be somewhere else entirely.  _ "I might be wrong though so don't get any ideas, kid. Also, the fact that you would not survive on your own for five minutes out there." Luz can feel her face heat up because, of course, Eda knows that she wants to go there. "Well, I could if you taught me already." 

Rolling her eyes, Eda says, "Luz, I just got the equipment today, and it's getting late, so we can't start today." 

Luz pouts as she sits down at the table. "I know that, but the longer I take, the less of a chance I have of seeing my mami." Eda turns off the stove and puts the top on the pot. She settles in front of Luz and looks at her. "If your mom is with the military, she's pretty safe, and this training isn't a joke. I've had you run drills for a couple of days, and you saw how exhausting that was. It's gonna get hard, and if you aren't careful, you'll get hurt." 

"I can do it, Eda. I'll be careful, and I'll learn in no time." Luz puffs out her chest and looks at Eda with a smile. Chuckling Eda says, "That's the spirit, Luz." 

. . .

The force of the impact almost knocks the breath out of Luz. Even with the chest plate, she's wearing Luz, can feel the hit all over her chest. Grunting, she sits up looks at Eda standing off to the side. Hooty is staring at Luz, waiting for her to give up. "Remind me again why I'm fighting with Hooty and not you." 

"Well, my dear student, we're saving the best for last." 

"Also, the fact that she stayed up till four last night," King states from beside Eda. 

Glaring at him, she says, "What exactly were you doing up so late, pipsqueak?" King doesn't even look bothered when he says, "Plotting against my enemies." 

Standing up, Luz gets in the position Eda showed her earlier today. Her left leg stretched out in front of her, and her right leg is behind the left leg bent. The stance is called Judan Komai from what Eda told her, and it isn't as hard, unlike some of the others she showed Luz. She waits and watches for Hooty's next move. One thing Luz has learned today is that Hooty can be incredibly fast. He cocks his head sideways, looking at her before he runs up to her and strikes. Luz lifts her staff like Eda told her to and catches Hooty's hit by a miracle. He jumps back, looking giddy before he goes in for another hit. Luz almost doesn't notice what's he doing till the last second. 

It looks like Hooty is trying to strike at the left but instead goes in for the right side. Quickly Luz moves her staff, and Hooty hits that instead of her ribs. The force almost knocks her over, and Hooty puts all his weight into the hit.  _ If I don't move, he's going to knock me over again. _ Something moves in her peripheral vision, and it seizes Hooty's attention. Using the distraction in her favor, Luz pushes him back and moves away from him. Hooty seems surprised that she did that before shrugging and runs towards her. Lifting his staff, he brings it down on Luz, and she blocks it before it bashes into her head. Grinning at her which is pretty creepy with his owl mask on, Hooty ducks down and kicks her feet from under her.

Luz hits the ground for the thousandth time today.  _ That bruise is going to be nasty.  _ She lays there for a second before getting up again. Smiling at Hooty, she says, "That is so cool! Hooty, you gotta teach me how to do that." Hooty looks excited at the thought but before he can reply Eda, says, "You'll learn that soon Luz, but for now, let's go back to striking drills." 

The striking drill is a bit dull, but at least Luz won't get any more bruises. It starts slow so; Luz can get the gist of it. Eda looks at ease doing this.  _ Probably cause she's been doing this forever. I wonder when she started?  _ "Hey Eda, what's this drill called?" 

"It's a bojutsu strike drill. It's one of the easier drills I know." The point of the drill is to learn how to deliver a strike to lower and higher areas. Luz picks it up pretty quick, and they pick up the pace sooner than Eda expected. They keep going like this for ten more minutes before Eda signals them to stop. "I think this a good place to stop for today." 

Luz frowns, "I can go for a bit longer, Eda." "I'm sure you can, kid, but I think you have enough bruises for today."  _ She's not wrong, but this fun. " _ Take your gear off and give me five laps around the house and then go freshen up so we can go into town." At the mention of the town, Luz quickly throws off her gear and starts running. It takes her about two minutes to finish her laps, and Luz barrels into the owl house. "Try not to break my house!" Eda yells after her. 

"Don't worry, Eda!" Luz manages to only run into one wall, so that's an improvement than most days. She throws a fresh pair of clothes and washes her face before heading back downstairs. King lifts his arms when she reaches the end of the stairs. Without questioning it, Luz picks him up and adjusts him on her hip. Grabbing her bat, Luz passes it to King so he can hold it for her. 

Eda is outside talking to Hooty about something and stops the moment she sees Luz and King. "Alright, you freeloaders, let's get going, and Hooty, don't forget what we talked about." Hooty stands straight and salutes her, "On it, Eda! Hoot, hoot!." Rolling her eyes, Eda starts walking towards the town. "Let's go, Luz! We shall face my enemies head-on!" King swings the bat around and hits Luz upside the head.

. . .

Luz finds herself again at the park with King. Eda sent them away after having to endure King all the way to town, and her patience left the scene when he ended up hitting her. Instead of yelling at him, Eda only pointed towards the park, and King followed immediately. "Follow the pipsqueak, so he doesn't do anything dumb."

That's how she finds herself sitting at the edge of her seat as she watches King argue with another five-year-old. King looks about five seconds from jumping on the kid, and Luz really doesn't want to break up a fight of five-year-olds. Eventually, the kid gets bored and runs off to the swings. "Hey, come back here! I'm not done with you!" King chases after him, and Luz can't help but laugh at how King tries to go fast with his tiny legs. 

The bench creeks as someone sits down beside Luz. Looking over, she notices it's Boscha.  _ Welp, this can't be any good. _ Luz sits stiffly; while Boscha watches the little kids play around. "So what are you doing here, loser?"  _ Oh, she's talking to me. _

"Just watching after my friend." Luz points towards King. Laughing Boscha, says, "You're friends with that Lil' monster." 

"King's not a monster." Luz frowns. "He can be a hand full sure, but he's a good kid." 

"Tell that to half the town, and they will laugh in your face."  _ Come on, that's just extra.  _

"Maybe the time should get to know him first before they think about him like that." Boscha looks at her for a moment before saying, "Well, good luck on getting them to do that." Before Luz can reply, she hears a shriek coming from the swings. She turned to find that King somehow found a way to tangle himself in the swings. 

Boscha gets up and faces her for a second. Then she flicks Luz right in the middle of her forehead. "Ow! What was that for?!" Boscha shrugs. "Felt like doing that. If you see flower girl around, tell her I'm still waiting for her response." 

With that said, Boscha turns on her heel and starts to walk away. She stops in front of King, grabs the swing, and spins it around. King screams as he spins and falls to the ground with a thump. Boscha laughs the entire time she walks away. 

Luz goes up to King and gives him a small smile when he pouts. "How dare she treat the King of Demons like that. She will pay for that!" Picking him up, Luz kisses him on his forehead and stops fuming a bit. "Don't let her get to you, buddy. Come on, let's fix that scrape you have." King looks surprised when he looks down and sees a small cut on his knee. As soon as he sees it looks like he's about to cry. "Ay porbe bebé. Come on; it's gonna be okay." 

They sit on the bench together, and Luz pulls out a band-aid from her pocket. It has little monsters on it, and it makes King smile. "Do you carry band-aids around with you all the time?" Ruffling his hair, Luz says, "Well, I am a bit clumsy, so I tried to be prepared." 

Looking around, Luz notices an ice cream stand near the playground. Sliding her hand into her back pocket, she pulls out a twenty-dollar bill she found earlier. Holding her hand out, King grabs it, and they head towards the stand. 

Both of them wait for their ice cream to get ready when a thought hits Luz.  _ Wait, are they still using money?  _ The last time Luz went around to do errands for Eda, she never gave any of them money.  _ Is money even still valuable? _ The man gives them their ice cream, and Luz hands him the money. He doesn't even while he counts her change and gives it back to Luz. King runs back to the bench and starts to eat his ice cream. "Slow down, buddy, or you're going to get a brain freeze." King ignores her advice and keeps eating way too fast. Shaking her head Luz, smiles and sits down beside him. 

_ So they still take money but are willing to trade to, but is the money even worth it. The world isn't exactly going to care if you have money. Maybe I shouldn't think about this too hard, or I'm gonna get a headache. _ Luz keeps eating her ice cream, and they sit in peace before King shrieks. He's holding his head while yelling, "Brain freeze!!" It's not Luz's fault that King looks adorable as he yells, so of course, she gushes over him. Finally, he stops, but he immediately starts to bounce up and down.  _ Okay, so maybe giving him sugar was a bad idea.  _

That's how Luz finds herself chasing King around town, all while he laughs. Luz really can't complain either she's having fun even if all the townspeople look at them annoyed. They end up at Willow's dad's shop after half an hour of running around. Luz picks King up before he can run off again. "So how about we take a break?" He starts to pout, "I want to keep playing with you, Luz!" Luz hugs him tighter and says, "I promise we will, buddy, but I want to say hi to my friend real quick." He frowns for a bit before nodding.

Together they walk inside, and it seems like no one there. "Hello, is anyone here." Luz waits for a minute before Willow's head pops out of the back door. When she notices it's Luz, she smiles and runs up to her. Luz throws the arm that isn't holding King around Willow and hugs her. "This is a nice surprise, Luz. I didn't think I would see you soon." 

"Yeah, Eda wanted to come in again today," Luz grins. Willow looks at her and finally realizes that Luz is not alone. "Oh, who's this?" 

King stares her down before proclaiming, "I am the King of Demons. Bow before me mortal!" Willow stares at him and glances back to Luz, who is trying so hard not to laugh. It's not every day you see a five-year-old tell you he is the King of demons all while he's being held. Willow doesn't know what to say, so Luz takes mercy on her, "This is King, he lives with Eda, and he is the most adorable kid you will ever meet." King starts muttering something Luz can't hear, but she only hugs him tighter. Willow looks like she's about to aw at him but decides against it. 

"So what have you been up to, Luz?" 

"You saw me just yesterday; how much trouble do you think I can get in one day?" 

Willow shots a smirk at Luz, "Well, from what I've seen- a lot." Luz pouts at her, "It's not my fault trouble decides to follow me wherever I go." Her friend laughs before smiling at her, "Come to the back with, and I'll show you Venus fly trap." King looks confused at the name of the plant. "Luz, what is that?" "I'm no expert maybe, you should ask Willow instead." Both of them turn to Willow, who looks excited to explain. "Well, King, a Venus fly trap is a carnivorous plant that eats flies." King practically fights his way out of Luz's arms and slams into the back door. "What are we waiting for! I want to see a plant eat something." 

Willow walks up from behind him and opens the door for him. Luz and King follow her to a table in the back of the room. Placed in the middle of the table is one of the biggest Venus fly traps Luz has ever seen.  _ It's not like I've seen any of them before, but I'm pretty sure you don't keep big ones like this one at home.  _ King tries to stand on his tippy toes to see it better, but that doesn't help much. Luz picks him up and carefully puts him on the table, making sure he isn't too close. "Meet Benedict, my pride and joy." Willow pets him gently, and he doesn't snap at her. "Wait, did you name your plant Benedict of all names?" Willow isn't phased by Luz's question, "Yes, I did because he is sophisticated." They look at each other for a moment before both of them bust out laughing. 

"Hello Benedict, I'm Luz, and this is King." King is openly inspecting the plant looking for something he doesn't even pay attention to Luz. Benedict only sways a little, but he doesn't do much apart from that. "Uhm, Willow, I was wondering why he's so big?" 

"Oh. my parents bought it for me on a trip to South America they took." Before Luz can say anything back, she hears King cry out. Willow and Luz turn around to find that Benedict bit King's hand. Willow makes Benedict open his mouth, and Luz picks King off the table. He looks ready to cry and to murder Benedict. "I will crush you, you dumb plant!" Looking at Willow, Luz says, "Maybe we should leave before King tries to kill Benedict."

Nodding, Willow walks behind Luz, and they leave the room. Going behind the counter, Willow looks through some drawers. Finding what she's looking for, she comes back to Luz. Willow hands King a lollipop, "Sorry about that, King. Benedict can be a bit pricky towards strangers." King eyes the candy and then Willow before he grabs it. Laying his head on Luz's shoulder, he opens the lollipop and says, "You are forgiven, for now." Luz adjusts him on her hip, "First Boshca and now Benedict buddy, today is not your day." 

At the mention of Boshca's name Willow's eyebrows furrow. "What did she do now?" "She just decided to mess with us a bit at the park earlier today. She also told me to tell you that she's still waiting for your answer." Willow rolls her eyes so hard Luz is afraid they're going to get stuck. "I've told her a hundred times the answer is no. Why does she keep asking?"  _ That doesn't clear up anything.  _ "What does she keep asking?" Annoyed, Willow says, "She keeps asking me on a date." Luz is so surprised that she almost drops King in the process. "Wait, she's doing what now!" Willow looks like she's asked herself that a million times. "I don't know, but she doesn't take no for an answer. Treats me like trash for years and expects me to say yes."  _ Of all the things I thought Boscha would ask, I was not expecting that. _

"Well, mi amiga, if you aren't busy, do you want to go walk around town with us?" Willow smiles at her and nods. She closes up the shop before they leave. They walk around for a while before King passes out in Luz's arms. Willow takes Luz towards the library, saying that Gus is probably there right now. While they walk to the library, Luz feels like someone's staring at her. Turning her head a bit, she sees a couple of people around them looking right at her. Some of them turn around when they notice she's caught them, but others aren't shy about staring at her. Lu isn't new to having people stare at her, but she doesn't know what she did this time to deserve these looks. 

"Willow, why are people staring at me? I don't have anything on my face, do I?" Willow turns her head and finds that half the people they pass stare at them. "I'm not surprised they are, Luz. After what you did yesterday, all of the town know's about you. Though they should be more polite."  _ What did I do yesterday? All I did was help Jerbo out...oh, that's why.  _ "Why are they staring, though? I just helped someone out; it wasn't anything impressive." Willow seems surprised before she says, "Luz, you took down one of those things by yourself. Most of the town has never seen a deadie in real life, much less killed one. You have to admit that was impressive."

When she puts it that way, it makes sense. Some of them look sort of scared by her or uncomfortable. Luz knows these stares but the ones that look impressed, excited, or just in awe with her make her feel off. No one ever looks at her like that apart from her mom. "Hopefully, they won't ever have to take one out because it's not fun." Willow gives her a sad smile, "We can only hope that." 

They get to the library pretty quickly and find Gus sitting on the steps outside. "Let me guess, Mr. Marcus kicked you out again?" Willow tells him. "It's not my fault he's such a downer. I was merely trying to explain to some kids what the deadies are, and he got mad," Gus huffs. Sitting down beside him, Willow says, "Maybe try not to traumatize little kids next time." Luz laughs, and she sits down beside him, trying not to wake up King. Gus looks curiously at and the sleeping kid in Luz's lap. "Oh, Gus, this my friend King." 

"So he's the kid that's always with the Owl Lady." She nods before she points at Gus's notebook, "Did you find something new?" 

Immediately Gus gets excited and starts to flip through his book. " I did, and it might be bad news, but at least now I can pinpoint where everything is worse." Luz and Willow glance at each other before looking back at him. "So what's the bad news?" Luz asks. "Around 2 am today, we lost contact with New York. New York city went silent a couple of day s ago, but now the complete state went dark. The news is trying to keep everyone calm, but that probably means the state has fallen." Luz and Willow don't know what to say.  _ If New York has fallen, does that mean other states have to?  _

"Gus, have any other states gone quiet?" Frowning a bit, he flips through a couple of his notes, " Georgia went quiet at the beginning, and New Jersey, Alabama, Florida, and South Carolina have too." That's way too many states for Luz's liking.  _ How the heck do we lose six states in little more than a week? Are we really that unprepared for this?  _ Willow looks like she's thinking through everything she just heard. "They're all over the country by now, so it's going to be soon before more states fall. Especially when the government has no idea what they're doing. The only reason we're okay is because of the fence, and we don't live near huge cities." Luz holds King a little tighter. The country isn't going to last long at this rate, so hopefully, her mom is somewhere safe. "Gus, if they are all over the country already, how are some still news stations working? Shouldn't they be trying to survive by now?" Luz questions. 

Willow is the one that answers her, "They want to keep people informed because the government won't tell anyone anything. If it weren't for them, half the nation would still think that is a strain of the flu going around." She stops for a second before she continues, "They're brave to do that. Putting their lives at risk to help us and the sad truth is that many of them have died." 

All of them get quiet for a minute. Luz knows firsthand how horrible it can be out there, and to imagine someone meeting that end is awful. "I want to learn everything I can about them so I can help Bonesborough. We're can only hide here for so long before we have to head out there." This is the first time since Luz has meet him that Gus looks serious. It's an odd look on his usual goofy expression. Looking towards the town, Luz can't help but wonder again; how they were so ready for this outbreak.  _ I don't even think anyone else knew this was happening. So how did a small town in the corner of California knew about it?  _

"Luz, can you tell me about your hometown? How everything looked like when you left." Willow looks like she's about to tell Gus not to ask that, but Luz beats her to it, "It was a mess. Everyone was running around trying to escape. Nobody knew what was happening. The first deadie I saw was at school. At the moment, I didn't know what it was, but he took a bullet with flinching. A cop shoot him in the head, and he dropped." Luz stops for a moment and tries to control the images in her head.  _ Dios, I'm never going to forget that night. _ Gus keeps writing when Luz starts to talk again. "The city was falling to pieces when I got to it. Fires were spreading everywhere, and bodies were all over the streets. I almost died three times trying to leave." 

King squirms a bit, trying to find a comfortable position. "It's funny how the day before I was just living my normal life, and then everything turns upside down in a matter of hours." Willow is looking at her with a sad expression, and Gus stopped writing. He seems to be thinking about something and says, "Luz, I'm sorry you had to see that, but from what you tell the cop did and what you did yesterday, I think I finally found something." Both Willow and Luz wait for him to tell them, but he seems caught up in his head. Willow shakes him a bit so he can get out of his daze.

"Oh yeah! Luz, you said that that guy took a bullet without even moving. He didn't stop until he was shot in the head and the deadie from yesterday fell after you smashed its head in. So whatever is making people into deadies has to do with the brain." Willow and Luz look at him impressed.  _ He figured all of that out by himself. I didn't even think about that. _ "So the virus that is spreading this does something to the victim's brain. Now the question is how did this even start," Willow says. Gus shakes his head, "I don't have any idea how it started, but it has already started to spread around the globe." Luz sits back and tries to keep her breathing calm.  _ The world is falling apart around us, huh. What a world we live in. _

The mood got somber as they keep thinking about what is going on. Luz jumps and places King in the arms of a surprised Willow. "Come on, guys! Let's not get upset. I know things are looking grim for the world right now, but things are going to get better." 

"Luz, that's a nice way of thinking, but we don't even know how to fix this," Willow tells her. 

"You have a point, but that doesn't mean we don't have a chance. We know how to take the deadies out, and the fence is great for protection." Gus is ready to jump in action, but Willow still seems skeptical. "I really do hope you're right, Luz." Grinning, Luz says, "Just you wait, Willow, everything is going to turn out okay." Luz spreads her arms out, and unfortunately, her bat hits something beside her. 

Flinching, Luz turns her head and is greeted, with angry golden eyes glaring at her. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry, Amity!" Amity only looks at her annoyed when she says, "Why is it that whenever I'm having a decent day, you come along and ruin it." Luz doesn't know the best way to reply, so she just says, "I'm sorry." Rolling her eyes, Amity puts her hands on her hips, "You should stop swinging that thing around before you hit the wrong person."  _ I'm pretty sure I already hit the wrong person.  _

Amity keeps looking at her, and Luz doesn't know what to do with her attention. She glances towards her friends, and they look as confused as she is. "I don't understand why everyone is talking about it. You take one of those monsters down and your celebrity. Instead of gawking at you like idiots, they should be learning how to fight back." Luz just blinks at her because honestly what do you tell a pretty girl that's angry at you? Scoffing, Amity leans towards Luz, "What's so special about you, Luz?" Luz feels her face flush, but she doesn't know if it's because she's offended or the fact that Amity is close to her. 

Luz can only stand there while Amity stares into her eyes. "Hey, Mittens!" Luz turns her head and see's a pair of teenagers standing at the top of the stairs. They have the same golden eyes as Amity, but they have blonde hair instead of green hair. They walk up to them and standing on both sides of Amity. The girl is the one that speaks first, "Well, aren't you the new girl. You're pretty cute." Luz's face is on fire as soon as she says that. It takes her a few moments to gather enough brain cells to respond, "T-Thanks, and you guys are?" 

"Where are my manners. I'm Emira, and this is my twin brother Edric. We are Amity's older and cooler siblings." Amity is about three seconds from killing them when she says, "Can you guys get any more infuriating?" Edric throws his arm around her shoulders, "Is that a challenge, dear baby sister?" He shots a wink towards Luz, and she is sure that her little bi heart was going to give out when Amity shoves him off her. 

"Come on, Amity, introduce us to your new friend," Emira tells her. 

Growling, Amity says, "She is not my friend." Luz has no idea why it stings so much to hear that. Shrugging, her brother says, "Cool, if you don't want her, then she'll be our friend." Three pairs of golden eyes look at her, and for a second, Luz has no idea what they want. Until she realizes they are waiting for her name. "Uhm, I'm L-Luz Noceda. P-pleasure to meet you guys."  _ Get it together, Luz! It's just three good-looking people looking at you.  _

The twins shoot her identical grins while Amity looks done with them. "Jerbo told us what you did yesterday. Thanks for keeping my boyfriend in one piece." Edric tells her. "I'm just glad I was able to help him." Amity grabs both of them as she says. "Enough pleasantries, let's go you two." Rolling her eyes, Emira tells her, "Alright, Mittens, you're such a party pooper." 

"Don't call me Mittens!"

Emira glances at Edric, and he nods her head. At the same, they yank their arms away from Amity, and she loses her balance. All Luz can do is try to catch her, but she ends up falling too. Her back hit the stairs painfully, with Amity on top of her. She opens her eyes and looks up at Amity. "Are you alright?" Instead of answering her. Amity scrambles to get off and ends up hitting Luz in the stomach. 

Amity's face is beet red, while the twins lose it behind her. She grabs both of them by the ears and yells, "You guys are so dead when we get home!" The twins try to make Amity let go, but she holds on tight. "Good-bye, Willow," is all Amity says before she drags her siblings with her. Willow gives Amity a small wave while Gus helps Luz up. "See you later, cutie!" Emira yells, and Edric waves at her. Luz dumbly waves back.

"That was interesting," Luz says after a while when she finally gets her bearings. Willow giggles a bit, "Yeah, the Blight twins can be something else, that's for sure." 

"Next time, give me a warning." Smiling, Willow nods. Luz grimaces a bit as she sits up. "Are you okay, Luz?" Gus askes. "Yeah, I'm just a little sore from today. Eda had me do some drills, and I got thrown around a bit." Willow fixes King on her lap and wipes off some drool from his chin. "Eda finally started teaching you?" Laughing, Luz replies, "Yes, and in no time, I'm going to find my mom!" Both of her friends smile at her.

Luz hears a car pull up at the front of the library.  _ I didn't even think anyone in town used a car- apart from Eda.  _ "Uhm, Willow, who's car is that?" Willow and Gus stand up and start walking towards it. "That's the Mayor. Come on. let's go greet her." Luz walks up to Willow and takes King from her. They stop beside the car when the driver walks put opens the side door. An elegant lady with a long two-toned grey dress with long dark blue hair walks out. Her eyes are cyan and a bit cold. Luz can't help but feel a bit intimidated. The lady gives them a polite smile and says, "Good afternoon, children. I wanted to talk to Luz." 

Willow and Gus turn to Luz and stare at her.  _ Welp, what did I do this time?  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has nothing to do with the book but I had my very first milkshake on Friday and let me tell you I have been missing out.


End file.
